Hour of the Star (1985) - Suzana Amaral 

One of the few Brazilian films I've seen that tends to focus on a female perspective, this avoids all political debate and social injustice to focus more on a personal story that seems horribly inconsequential. Macabea is in no way despicable but there isn't a whole hell of a lot to get us to endear towards her. She's ignorant of many things and just seems hopelessly clueless about everything. What's more difficult to understand is her poor treatment by nearly everyone else in the film. Her one guardian angel is her supervisor whose been told more than once to fire her by his boss. It's a tough film that isn't particularly abrasive, simply observant but no great arch and development. Simple a character observation who leaves us almost entirely as she came. The fresh perspective might have attributed to some of the film's festival success, but it lacks nearly all of the punch and tenacity that most imported Brazilian films seem to carry. 

*again I realize that perhaps a thread on Brazil would be in order, but this is far from Cinema Novo.