Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) or in Portuguese “O Leiteiro” by Jonathan Rodrigues. A.K.A “The Last Brazilian Dollar Baby”

Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) or in Portuguese “O Leiteiro” by Jonathan Rodrigues. A.K.A “The Last Brazilian Dollar Baby”

One of the simplest stories by Stephen King adapted into one of the most simplest Dollar Babies I have ever watched. And this is a damn good thing!

Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) is a very simple and easy to adapt into a short, even easier than “The Man Who Loved Flowers” or ” All That You Love Will Be Carried Away“, but it is funny how this short story did not have so many Dollar Baby versions the same way those two other did. Maybe that is because it is such a simple story, with no lines and just one character, maybe that is what made young filmmakers not choose to adapt this short story while they were up to making a Dollar Baby. Thank God a Brazilian filmmaker called Jonathan Rodrigues saw the true potential of this story and made this Dollar Baby.

Jonathan Rodrigues is a young filmmaker that has been making movies since the pandemic, but he already has more than 19 short movies in his career. Of course they are all independent short movies with real low budget and some of them might not please the “common” audience, but believe me when I say that he is a great filmmaker with such a creative mind, something that the world needs right now. I became aware of Jonathan’s movies when I found out about this version of “Morning Deliveries” and I became a true fan because I look to his style and I see a creative filmmaker that doesn’t give a damn if people are going to like his movies or not, he just want to express himself, share his points of view. And there is a market for his kind of movies, there are plenty of film festivals that enjoy his kind of art and also a bunch of fans. And I believe that if there wasn’t Jonathan would still keep doing it. And it is a beautiful thing to see an artist so in love with the art of storytelling like I sense Jonathan Rodrigues is.

When we from SKSM found out about Jonathan’s Dollar Baby I went nuts, I needed to watch it, really needed to. Because it was last year, the last year of the Dollar Baby Program, which meant that it would be the last Brazilian Dollar Baby, maybe the last one from South America.

I got in touch with Jonathan not only to talk to him about SKSM, but also to invite his movie to be part of the Brazilian film fest, even without knowing if the damn movie was good or not. I did that because it is always a pleasure to have a South American movie, even better when it is a Brazilian one. I just hoped that the movie was good and thank God it was.

The story is simple, as I said before, but there are some layers in it. And even in its simplicity it scares me even more than a monster story, because once again we have one of King’s most believable types of tales: when the monster is a common man. Here in Brazil it is not that usual to have a Milkman, not anymore. And I believe that nowadays it is like that all around the world. Maybe this happens because 1) supermarkets are an easier way to buy 2) now with different chemicals at Milk, it last longer 3) humans nowadays are not to be trusted, so probably if today we had Milkman’s, more than 69% of the products would be stolen right at the doors (here in Brazil that would be 89%) and finally 4) some psychopaths could probably do the exactly same thing that the main character of this short movie does to the products.

You see, King wrote this story years ago, app deliveries were not a thing yet, not even apps. And nowadays we see a bunch of delivery guys taking food to other people all the time, so this story still has a huge potential to scare people, I know it scares me. It really scares me the idea of someone touching my food and giving me the flu, now imagine if I start to think about how many psychopaths might be working at food apps, I would never ask for food at home again!

So, Jonathan was clever to choose this story, because not only I can buy the idea that maybe in some small towns there might still have Milkman’s, but also I do buy the idea of such an evil man capable of doing things like that. So, thank you Jonathan, muito obrigado, você me ajudou a descobrir um novo medo, meu amigo.

One of the best things in this short movie is its cinematography, because it is simple, but it does get the job done. I have no idea which camera he used, it could be a Canon 5D or maybe even a cell phone, but it doesn’t matter, the story was told and it has good shots in it.

Here in Brazil he has this mantra that young filmmakers are used to listening to: “a camera in the hand and an idea in the head”. This is a very famous phrase from one of the most important artistic movements here in Brazil called “Cinema Novo“. This was an artistic movement inspired by French Nouvelle Vague movement and Italian Neorealist cinema, but even if young students never had the chance to watch one single movie from this movement, what still echoes at movie classes is this phrase.

That is because it means that all you need to start and make a move are these two things: a camera and an idea. 

If you think about it, since nowadays cell phones make videos in 4K, you have almost all the technology you need to make a movie in your pocket right now. A friend of mine is shooting documentaries in Europe using only his iPhone, in 4K. I use my Samsung to edit and make subs while I am sitting in my car. Now, imagine how many Dollar Babies that we might know or not that were made with cell phones, or Canon 5D.

Of course, if something is easy to do, a bunch of people will do it, so it means that maybe a lot of bad movies are also made. But that is not the case with this short movie, because there is a difference between having access to technology and really knowing what to do with it. Believe me when I say that Jonathan Rodrigues knows his business! This is pretty clear by the cinematography of his movie, a simple but still effective one. He has the knowledge and also the movie references. I say this because by watching his movie it became clear to me that he is this kind of filmmaker, a self-taught filmmaker. And, well, one of my favorite filmmakers of all times was a self-taught artist: Mr. Quentin Tarantino.

Some images from this Dollar Baby will keep in your mind for a while, like the beautiful dusk or maybe the pigeons perched on electric cables or even the ants around the candy on the floor. But one thing is for sure: the main actor, Breno Alves, you will remember him! Breno Alves gave a restrained performance, but in a good way. He might look harmless for part of the audience and his acting shows that at the beginning, but if you are a suspicious kind of guy, you might suspect that there is something wrong with him from the very beginning. There is something about that smile at the beginning of the movie that we only became aware of how crazy this guy is at his last smile, when we realize how much he enjoys what he does to other people. And also, his appearance: he is a huge bald guy with a bow tie, almost too big for his bike. That is the kind of guy I would avoid if I saw a bike on the streets. So, thank you Breno, obrigado.

The art design is not the strongest aspect of this short movie and maybe it loses some viewers because of that, but let me assure you that it is their loss. It is a really fun Dollar Baby, the audience loved it when I screened it last year at the Brazilian Dollar Baby film fest. And they loved it not only because it was a fun movie and a Brazilian one, but also as I said before: this kind of monster is real, we believe in it. 

The Dollar Baby’s grade? We from SKSM give 2 fingers of the dead guy’s hand. We would give it more, but since the dead guy started to work as a Milkman he claims to lose one of his fingers at least once a month.

Hope you guys liked this review. See you next time.

Leonardo Granado.