Everything's Alright (1978) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A retired man's public complaints, domestic frustrations, and longing for the past reveal his conflict with an unhappy present.

Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases

A Protest Takes Shape

A retired official writes to a newspaper editor about rising food costs and alleged supply concealment. His recollections and arguments with his old friend Alarico reveal his patriotic convictions and blunt outlook.

Key Events

• Letter Protesting Food Prices — A retired official writes to a newspaper editor, accusing meat producers of hiding supplies to raise prices. Location: Unspecified
• Claim of Reliable Witness — He cites his statistical experience and patriotism to support his complaint. Location: Unspecified
• Argument with Alarico — Piauí and his old friend Alarico clash over politics and memories of past battles. Characters: Alarico Sombra, Piauí Location: Unspecified
• Factory Owner Recollections — Piauí recalls his history as a factory owner and his views on foreigners. Characters: Piauí Location: Unspecified

The Household Fractures

Piauí's focus on grocery prices turns into a bitter domestic quarrel, while his wife urges him to take medicine and rest. His jealousy and longing for a past lover conflict with his wife's reminder of their present family life.

Key Events

• Household Price Challenge — Piauí challenges his family to name the prices of ordinary groceries. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Wife Urges Rest — His wife urges him to take his medicine and go to bed. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Longing for an Old Lover — Piauí dwells on jealousy and fantasies of leaving for a lover from his past. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Wife Invokes the Present — His wife reminds him that the woman belongs to the past and that he has a present family life. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Despairing Country Letter — Piauí writes of a country and society he feels are falling apart; Alarico encourages him to continue. Characters: Alarico Sombra, Piauí Location: Unspecified

Work and Money Disputes

A request for a housing advance is refused amid arguments about taxes, workers, and financial hardship. The conversation recalls the difficult journeys of people who came to build Brasília and includes a song about visiting family in the countryside.

Key Events

• Request for Housing Advance — A man asks an administrator for an advance to cover housing costs. Location: Unspecified
• Advance Refused — The request is refused amid arguments over taxes, workers, and financial strain. Location: Unspecified
• Brasília Construction Hardship — The dialogue recalls people who travelled from Piauí to Goiás to help build Brasília. Characters: Piauí Location: Brasília
• Song of the Countryside — The old man sings about leaving for the countryside to visit his family. Characters: Piauí Location: Unspecified

The Past Recedes

Piauí's anger at ordinary people's suffering carries into a final confrontation with his wife. He calls for his vanished youthful lover, then tells the imagined figure to leave, remaining caught between romantic dreams and present unhappiness.

Key Events

• Anger at Ordinary Suffering — His frustration erupts into anger over ordinary people's suffering and living conditions. Characters: Piauí Location: Unspecified
• Rejection of Domestic Life — Piauí rejects his wife's attempts to draw him back into their shared life. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Call to the Vanished Lover — He calls out for the vanished lover of his youth and mourns his lost romantic dreams. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Dismissal of the Past — Piauí finally tells the imagined figure to go away as others try to calm him. Characters: Piauí Location: Home
• Caught Between Two Lives — He remains torn between an idealized past and the unhappy realities of the present. Characters: Piauí Location: Home

Story Breakdown

• Food Price Protest — The retired official challenges rising costs and presents himself as a credible patriot.
  • Newspaper Complaint — He writes to an editor accusing meat producers of hiding supplies to raise prices.
  • Statistical Credibility — He invokes his experience with statistics and love of country as grounds for trust.
• Alarico's Arguments — A friendship is shaped by political disagreement, memories, and support for the old man's writing.
  • Clashing Memories — Piauí and Alarico argue over politics and memories of past battles.
  • Writing Encouragement — Alarico encourages Piauí to continue his despairing letter.
• Household Tensions — Arguments about expenses and rest expose the strain in Piauí's domestic life.
  • Grocery Price Challenge — Piauí challenges his family to name ordinary grocery prices.
  • Medicine and Rest — His wife urges him to take medicine and go to bed.
• Longing for the Past — Jealousy and fantasies of an old lover collide with the obligations of present family life.
  • Old Lover Fantasy — Piauí imagines leaving for a woman from his past.
  • Wife's Reminder — His wife reminds him that the woman belongs to the past and that he has a present family.
• Money and Work — Financial disputes and memories of labor hardship widen the film's concerns beyond the household.
  • Housing Advance Refused — An administrator refuses a man's request for an advance to cover housing costs.
  • Brasília Hardship — The dialogue recalls people travelling from Piauí to Goiás to help build Brasília.
• Final Emotional Break — Piauí's anger and grief culminate in a rejection of his imagined past and an unresolved return to the present.
  • Outcry over Suffering — His frustration erupts into anger at the conditions ordinary people endure.
  • Dismissed Romantic Dream — He calls for his vanished lover, then tells the imagined figure to go away.

Directed by

Arnaldo Jabor

Key Cast

• Fernanda Montenegro — Elvira Barata
• Paulo Gracindo — Juarez Ramos Barata
• Maria Silvia — Aparecida de Fátima
• Zezé Motta — Zezé
• Stênio Garcia — Zeca Maluco