Cabra-Cega

Cabra-Cega is an important Brazilian film.It is one of those unique films which allows viewers to form their own ideas about a film's progress.Its uniqueness can be attributed to the fact that nobody can predict how events would unfold.Brazilian director Toni Venturi takes us to 1971 which was a harrowing period of uncertainty for common people of Brazil.He shows us how ordinary Brazilians especially young university students used all their courage,determination and energy to fight military power.Closed spaces are of extreme importance to this film as much of the action takes place within the four walls of a single house.This is a good strategy to adopt as it enabled actors to express their emotions freely.It is due to this quality that Toni Venturi has been able to create a mature psychological portrait of his characters.A word about this film's actors Leonardo Medeiros and Debora Duboc.They have respectively given commendable performances as a soft yet focused revolutionary idealist and his lady love.I got a chance to meet Toni Venturi in 2006 when I saw this film at Cinéma L'Arlequin in Paris during 8th Festival of Brazilian Cinema organized by Franco Brazilian cultural center Jangada.

While Cabra-Cega strikes me as a very well made and emotionally engaging film, it leaves me in the dark as to what it is trying to say -- even though I'm of course aware of the fact that all narrative genres say things that are more complex than what could be summed up in a sentence. Because of the film's narrow focus on the underground left group at its center, their isolation and suffering -- which latter is in part a consequence of that very isolation -- the movie comes across as a mere celebration of the left revolutionaries during Brazil's military dictatorship. While I don't have a problem with such a celebration, it doesn't seem to be sufficient material for an entire film.

If this film is trying to remind Brazilians of their quite recent authoritarian past, then why doesn't it tell the stories of those who supported and benefited from the military government? Looking back, it's always easy to identify with the victims or those who fought on the right side; it would be more difficult to portray those who operated the torture chambers -- and who may still fill important positions or be otherwise influential in today's Brazil. It seems to me that this film found a way of immersing itself in the recent past that does not encourage viewers to think about how this past connects to and may indeed still be present in today's Brazil.

Finnally a movie which show us what the Latin hierarchy does to preserve the international interests in our land. Unhappilly few people will see the movie, here or outside... But could be very good if the self proclaimed democrats in USA or anywhere watch what their governments supports to guarantee the corporations investments. If France in 1789 had been fight besides England will you be what you are today? Remember that all Germans where responsible for the genocide in II War, not just Hitler. Think about, please... Now that the US army is "over Bagda", LA (Latin America!) are again trying to grow from teenage to adult life, but who know that? Unhappilly our middle class is minimally exposed to the facts just some decades after they occurs...

Cabra Cega tells the story of Thiago, a young marxist guerilla man that is severely injured during a confrontation with the Brazilian police.

The year is 1971, and Brazil's third and worst military president, Medici, controls the country with iron fist, crushing every dissident voice that appears on the political scenario.

Thiago, being tenaciously chased by the police, is forced to "cool down" on a house of a leftist sympathizer. There, with his access with the outer world completely broken, he faces loneliness and despair.

His only contact with the world outside the tiny apartment is Rosa, the militant responsible for bringing food for the injured combatant. She is his only company, and his escape route. Together, they will need to face the hostile world that surrounds them.

Accurate, sensible and austere, Cabra Cega is a movie about despair, lost tenderness and redemption. Worth every minute.