It's doubtlessly true, relentlessly dreary and certainly part of the modern conversation. The question is: Does it add anything to that conversation?

Araby is unmistakably contemporary in its fashions, settings, and physical behavior; the similarities to the past seem found rather than manufactured.

A beautifully turned Brazilian movie that carries on as if a social-cause documentary and a folk song confessional had entered into a poignant embrace.

Uchoa and Dumans’ distanced, matter-of-fact portrayal of their vagabond renders Araby an elusive and open film. It’s particulars aren’t always announced, because — as with Bresson — the text ask viewers to meet it where it stands.