Cantos de Trabalho - Cacau

A short documentary following an old tradition of country workers at Itabuna's cocoa cultivation where they sing and chant while picking, cutting and stomping on cocoa. The film's title makes a pun of words that mean both of a working place and also as singing at work ("Canto" meaning both place and a form of singing). While Ferreira Gullar was an extraordinary narrator in countless documentaries in the 1970's he doesn't talk much, he just explains the tradition at the plantation and how it could be a dying tradition and those workers might have the last ones to keep carrying on, so the majority of the project is destined to audiences hear their voices.

If only we could understand what was being said. Everything is so repetitive, loud and boring and most of the enjoyment is just in seeing how the work is conducted through singing and dance movements as the cocoa is worked upon. It's not a bad film, it's just devoided of a real interest or purpose. Sorry Mr Hirszman, I love your films but this one simply didn't made anything for me. 5/10.