O Ébrio

Vicente Celestino is a popular singer who gives up that career o become a successful doctor. He marries a beautiful woman he adores and showers her with gifts. This means, of course, that she will eventually betray him, and he will become a drunk; hence the movie's title.

It's a well-made potboiler directed by Gilda de Abreu, who was married to Celestino. Clearly intended as a starring vehicle to show off his wide range in acting and other forms of entertainment, it does just that. The folks who introduced the movie on Turner Classic Movies were greatly impressed by the range of emotions and situations it showed off. Over all, it struck me as the equivalent of a good 1930s programmer.

The Drunkard is a hallmark of Brazilian cinema. While it is clearly imperfect, and also dated, its merits overcome any flaw. It is one of the highest grossing movies in Brazil, above Gone with the Wind in many movie theatres in 1946. Success is certainly directly connected to the leading actor, Vicente Celestino, one of the greatest singers in that decade, who portrays an impoverished man who becomes rich again due his sucess singing in the radio, but who is made poor once more by dishonest relatives, entering a stage of alcoholism. Indeed, this movie is an adaptation to cinema of a famous 1936/1937 song by him which had been adapted as a theatre play in 1942. The writer and director of both the play and the movie script was Gilda de Abreu, the fist Brazilian female director (but born in Paris) ever to achieve a great career success. The pioneer woman, who debuted as a filmmaker with this The Drunkard, was the wife of Celestino, with whom she worked together in musical theatre operetta A Canção Brasileira and married in the very same year, 1933. She had an encompassing artistic career that included acting, directing, producing, and writing for cinema, theatre and radio, besides composing and singing, since 18 years-old in 1922.

The film has been restored and re-edited according the director's original script (including the insertion of footage that was found in unused original negative in released cut), which had been seriously changed by the producers into a smaller length cut (87 minutes instead of the new version of 120 minutes). This is the version I watched, when it was exhibited in television for the first time, in 2023.

The film alternates a lot its atmosphere, from religious to comic, from comic to depressing, with both nice and sluggish, clever and cliché moments. Acting performances are poor in a significant portion of the movie, with some exceptions.

When the film moves to comedy, even with some cartoon-like elements, is when it achieves its best results. I loved the innovative scene when Gilberto Silva (Celestino) is reprimanded by his own conscience, with his image talking to him from inside the mirror. The scenes with the maid Salomé (played by Marilu Dantas; except for the racist moment when black Salomé tells Celestino that his relatives are white but have the soul with the colour of her skin) and cousin Rêgo (played by Walter D'Ávila, well known by generations from recent decades due his role in TV show Escolinha do Professor Raimundo) provide some laughs. So does the smart edition wich made the Pomeranian dog reacts surprised by the scheming chat between José and Lola.

Has all of Chaplin's sentimentality with roughly 20% of his comedic skills. As a result boredom soon ensues.

"O Ébrio" ("The Drunkard") is a rare classic from Brazilian cinema that still stands the test of time after more than 60 years of its release. I was deeply amazed by the film's quality despite its simplicity and naivety that comes along with the story. My reference here isn't the edited version but the full version (2 hours) recently restored and the way the movie was intended to be shown - many things were lost during the years but the new print has a great sound and plenty of scenes that were left out of the original 1946 release and I wonder how in the world they manage to show something underdeveloped.

An unusual partnership is established here: first-time director Gilda de Abreu directs her husband the known singer Vicente Celestino (who also wrote the play in which the film is based) in the lead role of Gilberto Silva, a simple man whose family lost all their lands due to poorly managed business and he went to the city wandering through the streets trying to find a solution to his problems, which includes return to college to get a degree as a medical doctor. He finds a church and receives a heart-warming welcome and assistance from a priest (Victor Drummond) who is willing to provide him with food and a roof. But destiny plans a little more for Gilberto. He discovers a radio show that reveals new talents, pays well and there he finds his way to a ephemeral yet rewarding success when he has the chance to sing one of his compositions, the unforgettable song "Porta Aberta" ("Open Door") with an inspirational lyric that reflects his life up until that moment. Sure, it's a musical that needs to showcase Celestino's talents but the script finds a deep problem in showing us how the simple farm guy knew how to compose/sing and understand music - but we can pretend that he knew stuff before going to the city.

With the money earned Gilberto goes back to college and graduates, becomes a doctor and finds love with Marieta (Alice Archambeau), a nurse that vividly remembers his phase as a popular singer. Up until this moment, it all goes all well. But when Gilberto's family formed with ill-spirited cousins and their wives - who turned their backs when he needed the most when he was poor - all of sudden ask for their forgiveness and try to get closer to him, which includes José (Rodolfo Arena), one of the cousins and one who's interested in Marieta and the money Gilberto left her. Not much a spoiler because its quite obvious and one of the reasons why the film is known comes in the third act when Gilberto's marriage is ruined and he goes back to his starting point, but this time worst now that he fakes his own death, without any identity and living as a completely drunkard who keeps on drinking just to forget about how his life was turned upside down. With that, comes some of the most heartbreaking and saddest moments of the film, being the most memorable when he sings at a bar another song that presents something meaningful about his story.

This movie was a poignant and sweet surprise hardly ever presented in Brazilian films or even films from around the world around at that time. I've heard some scholars here comparing it to "The Lost Weekend" since they were released very close to each other in here, and that's a valid point - even though Celestino's play was around for quite a bit. But the sense of transition of a man losing himself, then finding himself again to a more meaningful life and losing it all back again, that full transformation felt real even though the movie was quite colorful, too fast while giving us a real turn-around on Gilberto's good moments. Unlike "The Lost Weekend" which paints a profound and dirty examination of what a drinking problem is, "The Drunkard", at least provides us time to reflect on why that exact addiction seems to be the main solution to many people. It's a decent presentation, with minor troubled outcomes. And except for the drama and the musical bits, there's even room for a good humor specially when it comes to present Gilberto's family and the maids.

Despite some melodrama (common in that era), "O Ébrio" is consistently good, without a lost moment and well-acted despite not having an all-star cast. I've found myself completely immersed with the story and the ways it followed, specially that ending which reveals a lot about the potentiality of cinema when it goes a different way than expected. 8/10