O OUTRO LADO DA RUA / The Other Side Of The Street
Franco Brasil, 2003, 97 min
A film by Marcos Bernstein (Central do Brasil)
with Fernanda Montenegro, Raul Cortez, Luis Percy, Laura Cardoso screened at Berlinale in the Panorama section.

Regina is 65 years old and lives on the Copacabana. Although her domicile sounds exciting, life for Regina is in fact rather dull. Regina is bored. In order to introduce a bit of variety into her monotonous existence, she spends her time working as an informer for the local police. This is why she keeps eyes peeled, always on the look out for illegally parked vehicles or jaywalkers.
When Regina tires of this, she starts chasing pickpockets and indeed anyone she sees loitering with intent on the streets. Regina’s habit of shooting her mouth off doesn’t make the most popular person in the neighbourhood, either. One night, she is sitting in her apartment scanning the other dwellings through a pair of binoculars, when she comes across a man clearly in the process of murdering his wife. She informs the police immediately but then falls asleep in her chair. Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, justice is being done . . .
The next morning, the chief of police informs Regina that the man she had suspected of committing a heinous crime was none other than Camargo, a respected judge, who was administering medication to his fatally ill wife at the time. It is of course beyond question that his wife subsequently died a natural death, continues the chief, and promptly suspends Regina from her duties. Enraged and desperate, Regina decides to search for evidence of the judge’s guilt. A short time later, Camargo surprises Regina on the street. Although suspicious at first, Regina soon believes the judge to be genuinely interested in her. In order to somehow still find a way of handing him over to the police she decides play him along – more than is good for her . . .