First Run Features are not a distribution company with a large budget and hence this marvelous film is released with a number of hefty production faux pas. Firstly the DVD is not transferred anamorphically (16X9 enhanced) - nor does it have removable subtitles (they are burned-in to the image). The ones rendered are of a very large font (see below) and don't  seem as competently translated as, say, a Criterion release. The aspect ratio should be 1.66:1 but I register it as approximately 1.80:1.  Audio is a shade inconsistent but I wouldn't rate it as a major flaw (as I would the above noted). Finally although I suspect it of being an interlaced transferred the film itself is devoid of a significant number of horizontal pans to determine this with any degree of certainty.  

The supplements consist of adverts supporting First Run's Global Lens Collection Initiative but there is nothing specific pertaining to the film.

After all that I still recommend based entirely on the film which I truly enjoyed - perhaps one of the best films I have seen from Brazil (or even all of South America). The film is not heavy-handed in its subject but implies much with its subtleties. A real cinema experience that I encourage but it makes the DVD representation all that more disheartening.

Gary W. Tooze