"A hora mágica" is a mix between a noir movie and a fantastic, surreal movie, dealing with the contrasts between reality as it is and reality as we want it to be. Life imitates art, but what life? What art? Is any of it worth it? The acting, the scenario, the timing, all promote an air of falsehood, and for a good reason: this is the land of fantasy, of desire, a place to try (and fail) to escape the roughness of real life and join the paradisiac land of the movies (or, as it is, of radio soap-operas). And this is why it also explicitly resembles a noir movie, the kind of movie that epitomizes the glamour of Hollywood. This game between reality and fantasy is paralleled to the shock originated with the arrival of TV in Brazil, rivaling radio, as TV virtually destroyed the radio soap-operas (the main character is a radio soap-opera actor). All in all, a delicate film, beautiful to the eyes and the soul, well-done technically, and with a good soundtrack. In particular, the final sequence is simply perfect, maybe among the most beautiful in the history of cinema; that sequence alone justifies recommending this film.
