Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s reformist two-term president, gets the once-over-lightly treatment in “Lula, Son of Brazil.’’
The shallow biopic follows Lula, as he was known to the chanting masses, from his birth to an impoverished family in 1945 to the death of his controlling mom in 1980. Lula had an eventful life as a labor organizer, including a stint in prison, before being elected president. In 2010, the year Lula’s second term ended, Time magazine dubbed him “one of the world’s most powerful people.’’
Director Fabio Barreto has a lot to jam in, and so he dashes from incident to incident without pausing to give viewers what they really need: insight into what made Lula tick. We do know that he was a mama’s boy, but little else is offered here about his psyche.
With its $5 million budget, “Lula’’ is said to be Brazil’s most expensive movie yet. It’s a shame the money wasn’t better spent.