Synopsis
When Jean’s parents go bankrupt, they decide to hide the financial crisis from their 16-year-old son until he passes Rio’s university entrance exams. As Hugo, Jean’s father, nears the last wad of Reais stashed in one of his suits, his mother Sônia has to go beyond the French lessons she taught merely for fun to become the sole income earner. This, in turn, tips off the marital dynamics, generating a certain malaise for Hugo, now questioned in his ability to perform as a patriarch.
The sudden near-bankruptcy leads the family to cutting costs, including letting go of Severino, the family driver. Jean has to start riding the bus. The bus rides lead him to meet Luiza, a progressive girl who starts opening his eyes to some of his household idiosyncrasies. But even with her, it is an uphill battle to finally cut free from his enslaving virginity and be on a par with the rest of the guys.
When the university exam finally comes, Jean comes undone. During a chance meeting with Severino, he forays into a whole other side of Rio, crossing into all the pleasures and perils that adulthood has to offer—to him and his family.
CASA GRANDE is a tale of overprotection and fear, virginity and race, set among Rio’s decadent elite, where class issues are ever present but rarely addressed.