Ruy Polanah

Acting

Ruy Polanah

Born — Died

1922-01-01 — 2008-09-03

Place of birth

Brésil

Known for

Acting

Credits

54 titles

Known for

Bicho do Mato poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Bicho do Mato

2006

ScreenPlay poster
6.0

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.

ScreenPlay

1986

The Emerald Forest poster
6.6

For ten years, engineer Bill Markham has searched tirelessly for his son Tommy who disappeared from the edge of the Brazilian rainforest. Miraculously, he finds the boy living among the reclusive Amazon tribe who adopted him. And that's when Bill's adventure truly begins. For his son is now a grown tribesman who moves skillfully through this beautiful-but-dangerous terrain, fearful only of those who would exploit it. And as Bill attempts to "rescue" him from the savagery of the untamed jungle, Tommy challenges Bill's idea of true civilization and his notions about who needs rescuing.

The Emerald Forest

1985

Fitzcarraldo poster
7.6

Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

Fitzcarraldo

1982

Journey to the End of the Night poster
5.9

In a dark and decadent area of São Paulo, the exiled Americans Rosso and his son Paul own a brothel. Paul is a compulsive gambler addicted in cocaine and his father is married with the former prostitute Angie, and they have a little son. When a client is killed by his wife in their establishment, they find a suitcase with drugs.

Journey to the End of the Night

2006

Tainá 2 - A New Amazon Adventure poster
5.5

The young warrior indian Tainá must now battle against biopirates, and is joined by a new boy from the big city and an indian little girl who wants to follow her steps as a protector of the jungle.

Tainá 2 - A New Amazon Adventure

2004

Film credits

2000s · 6 titles

Journey to the End of the Night poster
5.9

In a dark and decadent area of São Paulo, the exiled Americans Rosso and his son Paul own a brothel. Paul is a compulsive gambler addicted in cocaine and his father is married with the former prostitute Angie, and they have a little son. When a client is killed by his wife in their establishment, they find a suitcase with drugs.

Journey to the End of the Night

2006

Tainá 2 - A New Amazon Adventure poster
5.5

The young warrior indian Tainá must now battle against biopirates, and is joined by a new boy from the big city and an indian little girl who wants to follow her steps as a protector of the jungle.

Tainá 2 - A New Amazon Adventure

2004

Tainá: An Amazon Adventure poster
4.9

A brave and bold indigenous girl, protector of her jungle and its wild life and guided by her shaman grandfather, pairs with a boy from the big city, against animal traffickers in the Amazon forest.

Tainá: An Amazon Adventure

2001

In Evil Hour poster
5.7

The old servant and chronicler Dom Sabas tells how his desolate South American town is the scene of a ruthless power struggle. The landowning Assis family, reduced to a widow and son, tries to hold out against the young, despotic mayor. No less effective then actions are anonymous rumors and accusations, which often stir the inhabitants' moves.

In Evil Hour

2006

Eclipse poster
6.8

The writer Pia and the painter Gil live by the Rio Negro deep in the Amazon jungle. One night, during a lunar eclipse, Pia is murdered. Her death plunges Gil into a world of shadows. He leaves the town by the river and does not return to the house he shared with Pia until two years later. There, Pia is present in the flood of memories that keep coming back to him, and also lives on deep in his heart. This love, the comfort it brings him, and the girl Elsa lead him out of the darkness and back into the light, back to life. And he will meet Pia's murderer. 'Eclipse' is a love story set against the background of a crime: compelling, poetic, and delicately told.

Eclipse

2002

Cobrador: In God We Trust poster
4.1

Adaptation and unification in a single story of several stories by the writer Rubem Fonseca, where the theme of violence in contemporary society is explored.

Cobrador: In God We Trust

2007

1990s · 9 titles

At Play in the Fields of the Lord poster
6.6

Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission was previously run by the Catholics, before the natives murdered them all. They are sent by the pompous Leslie Huben, who runs the missionary effort in the area but who seems more concerned about competing with his Catholic 'rivals' than in the Indians themselves. Hazel is terrified of the Indians while Martin is fascinated. Soon American pilot Lewis Moon joins the Indian tribe but is attracted by Leslie's young wife, Andy. Can the interaction of these characters and cultures, and the advancing bulldozers of civilization, avoid disaster?

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

1991

Sand Bride poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Sand Bride

1998

Il barbiere di Rio poster
5.6

Matteo is a Roman barber whose business is full of debts. He decides to escape from this depressing reality by accepting his sister's invitation to Brazil.

Il barbiere di Rio

1996

The Fifth Monkey poster
9.0

When Cunda, a man living deep in the Brazilian rainforest, is bitten by a snake, he has a hallucination of four chimpanzees. Once he recovers, he is shocked to find the four chimpanzees waiting for him at home, and, believing them to be special, decides to take them to the city in order to sell them.

The Fifth Monkey

1990

No Coração dos Deuses poster
6.2

Following the clues of a map, a boy and some adventurers go into the forest in search of treasure from the pioneers, and end up going back two centuries in time, in search of the legendary Minas dos Martírios.

No Coração dos Deuses

1999

Orfeu poster
5.4

Orfeu is a popular composer from a samba school. He lives in the favela and falls madly in love when he meets Euridice, a newcomer to the neighborhood. But the local drug boss Lucinho stands between them and will drastically change both their lives.

Orfeu

1999

O Círculo de Fogo poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

O Círculo de Fogo

1990

O Lado Certo da Vida Errada poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

O Lado Certo da Vida Errada

1996

Tummy poster
8.0

A young boy escapes from an orphanage to find two magical creatures in the jungle. As he bonds with the younger one, he discovers that poachers are out to kidnap the creatures and he strives to rescue them.

Tummy

1995

1980s · 19 titles

The Emerald Forest poster
6.6

For ten years, engineer Bill Markham has searched tirelessly for his son Tommy who disappeared from the edge of the Brazilian rainforest. Miraculously, he finds the boy living among the reclusive Amazon tribe who adopted him. And that's when Bill's adventure truly begins. For his son is now a grown tribesman who moves skillfully through this beautiful-but-dangerous terrain, fearful only of those who would exploit it. And as Bill attempts to "rescue" him from the savagery of the untamed jungle, Tommy challenges Bill's idea of true civilization and his notions about who needs rescuing.

The Emerald Forest

1985

Fitzcarraldo poster
7.6

Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

Fitzcarraldo

1982

Running Out of Luck poster
5.6

A rock singer goes to Brazil to shoot a video, but winds up getting kidnapped and enduring a number of seemingly bizarre and hilarious events.

Running Out of Luck

1987

Luzia Homem poster
4.7

After witnessing the assassination of her parents, Luzia is raised by a cowboy and starts behaving like the men of Brazilian "Sertão". As a grown-up, she sets out to find her parent's murderer, but ends up discovering love.

Luzia Homem

1988

Hell Hunters poster
4.2

A Nazi scientist, wanted as a war criminal, develops a spider serum that turns people into fascist Nazi zombies. A pair of investigators who have devoted their lives to hunting down Nazi war criminals set out to stop him.

Hell Hunters

1988

Noites do Sertão poster
4.5

The film shows the drama of the young and fragile Lalinha. After being abandoned by her husband, who ran away with another, the girl seeks comfort on the farm where the two in-laws live and the widowed father-in-law. There, the girl discovers a new world.

Noites do Sertão

1984

Jorge, um Brasileiro poster
5.8

After arguing with his ex-girlfriend, truck driver Jorge hits the road again, while remembering the past and questioning his friendship with his manipulative boss.

Jorge, um Brasileiro

1988

The Dolphin poster
6.2

According to an amazonian legend, every month, during the full moon, a brazilian fishing village receives a mysterious guest: the Dolphin, who transforms into a human to seduce and be loved by women and hated by men. One of her conquests is the daughter of a fisherman, who has a son with the Dolphin. He constantly reappears to seduce her, and even when she marries, he continues to look for her. This provokes the ire of the husband, who wants to kill him anyway.

The Dolphin

1987

Para Viver Um Grande Amor poster
6.3

Poor people who live in the slums in Rio de Janeiro decide to occupy an empty apartment building in the rich part of the city. Meanwhile, a rich girl falls in love with a poor composer. Based on the musical play "Pobre Menina Rica", by Vinícius de Moraes and Carlos Lyra.

Para Viver Um Grande Amor

1984

Kuarup poster
4.6

This epic Brazilian film was based on the equally epic novel by Antonio Callado. Set between 1954 and 1964, the film's focus is the saga of Jesuit priest Nando. Fed up with civilization, he ventures deep into Amazon country to live with and work among the Xingu Indians.

Kuarup

1989

Quilombo poster
6.9

Quilombo dos Palmares was a real-life democratic society, created in Brazil in the 17th century. This incredibly elaborate (and surprisingly little-known) film traces the origins of Quilombo, which began as a community of freed slaves. The colony becomes a safe harbor for other outcasts of the world, including Indians and Jews. Ganga Zumba (Toni Tornado) becomes president of Quilombo, the first freely elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. Naturally, the ruling Portuguese want to subjugate Zumba and his followers, but the Quilombians are ready for their would-be oppressors. The end of this Brave New World is not pleasant, but the followers of Zumba and his ideals take to the hills, where they honor his memory to this day. Writer/director Carlos Diegues takes every available opportunity to compare the rise and fall of Quilombo with the state of affairs in modern-day Brazil.

Quilombo

1984

Índia, a Filha do Sol poster
5.0

A military man picks up a Native Brazilian woman and heads to a gold panning site where he has undisclosed business to attend to.

Índia, a Filha do Sol

1982

A Dança dos Bonecos poster
6.5

Mr. Kapa and his assistant meet Iara, a mythical being, in a river with purple waters. Geléia, the assistant, fills a bottle with this magic water and makes three puppets turn alive.

A Dança dos Bonecos

1986

Land poster
8.0

The Amazonian jungle, Brazil, 1987. Ruthless landowners are evicting peasants from their land. The peasants look to the priest for help, and are contemplating taking up arms. A stranger arrives who provides an answer to their plight.

Land

1987

After Eight... Forever poster
4.0

Tereza tries to leave her past and forge her own destiny and happiness by going through several affairs.

After Eight... Forever

1987

Insônia poster
9.0

A three-episode anthology film based on short stories by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos.

Insônia

1982

Bar Esperanza poster
6.2

A group of eccentric people gather at a popular bar in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro.

Bar Esperanza

1983

Malandro poster
7.0

In Rio de Janeiro's bohemian district called Lapa, during the '40s, a stylish and popular scoundrel exploits a cabaret singer, and earns his living by means of petty swindles. But then he meets Ludmila, the cabaret owner's daughter, who wants to get rich smuggling goods in times of war.

Malandro

1986

No artwork available
7.0

A documentary about the artist Aloísio Magalhães.

Memória Viva

1987

1970s · 13 titles

Of Gods and the Undead poster
6.0

In the 1930s, in the South of State of Bahia, Brazil, an adventurer with no name or history, who has already been shot seven times, gets involved in the battle for land and cacao plantations. His plan is to take the place of "Colonel" Santana, taking his wife and money. He starts a bloody conflict, in which many simple people and landowners die.

Of Gods and the Undead

1970

No artwork available
6.1

No synopsis available yet.

O Homem do Corpo Fechado

1972

Sagarana: O Duelo poster
7.0

Unable to endure the idea that he would go without punishment, a criminal's victim chases him the length and breadth of Brazil for a showdown.

Sagarana: O Duelo

1974

Sweet Thieves poster
7.0

After assaulting a Hollywood film crew, a group of residents of a community in Rio de Janeiro decided to produce a film that would express the reality of Brazil - with the theme of Inconfidência Mineira.

Sweet Thieves

1977

Anchieta, José do Brasil poster
6.1

Life and death of the jesuit who fought for the peaceful relationship between colonists and the indigenous peoples of Brazil.

Anchieta, José do Brasil

1977

Un animal doué de déraison poster
6.5

A wealthy French promoter living in Rio tries to seduce Alexandra, a young woman of high society, but a prisoner of her strict education. He then shared his project with a journalist friend, who decided to make it the theme of a novel he imagined in 18th century Brazil...

Un animal doué de déraison

1976

Cristais de Sangue poster
8.0

Rui arrives in a small town looking for his father, a prospector. Before that, he gets involved with Maria, who is facing problems in the family. Maria's stepfather is the head of a gang and will go to any lengths to prevent Rui from finding his father.

Cristais de Sangue

1975

Black Goddess poster
10.0

A Deusa Negra is a love story that spans two centuries. In 18th century Yorubaland, Prince Oluyole is taken prisoner in the course of internecine warfare fanned by overseas slave traders. He is sold into slavery in Brazil. In present day Nigeria, at his father's deathbed, the young Babatunde promises to go to Brazil and search for traces of their once-enslaved ancestors. Beginning with a Candomblé ritual, his journey takes him ever deeper into this culture and, in a dream-like sequence, affords him a deeper understanding of his ancestors' suffering and powers of resistance. Balogun effortlessly links present with past, real with magical worlds and discourse with trance. The hypnotic atmosphere is also heightened by the music of the Nigerian drummer Remi Kabaka, which plays with repetitive patterns and distortions.

Black Goddess

1978

Fish in a Barrel poster
8.3

Young robber, son of a prostitute who had killed herself, gets involved with two police informers, who force him to share the loot he gets.

Fish in a Barrel

1977

Feminino Plural poster
8.0

"Seven women on motorcycles, through Via Dutra, go to the Baixada Fluminense, a microcosm of Brazil. Diving into the memory and questioning the behavior imposed on women, they seek to rescue the strength of the feminine. The new woman, born in the Brazilian land, incorporates the Amazons and Santa Guerreira. At his side, the new man, more loose and creative. Closing the cycle, the initial road is resumed. " (HBH / QC)

Feminino Plural

1976

Joanna Francesa poster
4.5

Joana is a sophisticated, beautiful woman, so she has a choice of lovers, and destinies. She will let down Pierre, the French consul at São Paulo, and with him the frivolity of tea-parties and comfort. Her wild inner-soul will develop into the wild forest surroundings of a landlord's farmhouse. To the extent she will defend her land like a 19th century owner - of lands and men alike.

Joanna Francesa

1973

O Cortiço poster
5.0

This adaptation of a classic Brazilian novel focuses on the relations of charismatic characters within a tenement.

O Cortiço

1978

Branded For Life poster
7.0

A true friendship develops between Jojô, a prostitute Rosa, and the young Eduardo, who survive on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Everything goes well until ambition takes over the trio, causing friends to aim for bigger goals, planning a big assault that could cost them their lives.

Branded For Life

1977

1960s · 4 titles

Tragic Jungle poster
6.8

In a company trading maté, workers are treated as slaves. Some of them try to escape, but those who are caught suffer severe punishments.

Tragic Jungle

1963

The Guns poster
7.5

A group of armed soldiers is sent to the Northeast of Brazil in an attempt to stop a famine-struck population from invading and stealing a food deposit in the dry backlands. While the alienation and insanity of people driven to hallucination by their latent hunger is conducted by the predictions of a religious figure, a truck driver observes the situation and remains torn between his friendship with the soldiers and his revolt against the lack of government action in fighting the misery that lingers over the region.

The Guns

1964

Ganga Zumba poster
6.6

The life of a runaway slave who founded the Quilombo dos Palmares, an outlaw community of Brazilian slaves.

Ganga Zumba

1963

No artwork available
7.0

Helena, married to decorator Bruno, is a woman dissatisfied with the futility of social life. She rekindles her relationship with her former boyfriend, Clóvis, and discovers how difficult the struggle for happiness is by seeing the example of the less fortunate. After saving herself from the rough seas on the beach, Helena finds herself possessed by a mystical fear. On New Year's Eve, while the people celebrate Iemanjá, Helena and Bruno throw a lavish party. Their employee, Luiz, is arrested as a suspect in the death of a woman found on the beach. Having a disagreement with her husband, Helena leaves the party and throws herself into the sea. She is saved by Umbanda followers and welcomed by Bruno, who tries in vain to comfort her.

Mar Corrente

1967

Series credits

Behind the camera