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Raduan Nassar is that kind of guy that has a totally different vision of the world. His books are always in surreal language, which is good but this time didn´t work at all. The story itself is weak. A man has to take his brother back home to his family because eveyone is suffering and nobody can take anymore, not even his father. The thing is "Lavoura Arcaica" is a excelent book but doesn´t work on the screen. This movie is brought to life as a Brazillian contemporary classic and in fact is not that much. People get excited and all, but they don´t really think what they are watching. It is true, Luiz Fernando Carvalho did a great job with the cast but that was all. He couldn´t put all the magic of the book to be present in this THREE HOUR movie that has a lots of good poetry that only Nassar can geniously write. Some sentences are said that touches you but are better written. Raul Cortez gives a normal performance that people insist that is remarkable but is not. The only thing remarkable in this movies is Selton Mello´s performance. One of the best of all time without a doubt. Worth a watch just to see this guy rock the screen taking all the poetry out.

"Lavoura Arcaica" is , of course, a good movie with a lot of beautiful stuff in it but is not all that people think. THREE HOURS are just too much boring but is worth to see a talent like Selton Mello giving everything he has and more. He steals every single scene he´s in. 7 out of 10.

The first time I saw this film I didn´t like it very much, thought it was too "literary". The second time I saw it again I thought it was OK. At the third time (and last, until the moment) I am almost considering it a masterpiece. You literally dive in the soul of this film, its unique cinematography, the music go deep under your skin. It´s not a film for everyone, almost everyone thought it was boring, or you hate it or love it.

Can´t wait to see this film released in DVD!

This is, without a doubt, one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is a spectacular example of the new brazillian movie-making!

It is a technically perfect movie, with a brilliant cinematography and a masterful photography. The scenes are very well built and the director truly owns this movie. Of course, it derives from one of the masterpieces of recent literature, Raduan Nassar's impressive novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and have to disagree with Flavio Velames comment, complaining about it being too erudite. There's only such thing if a movie is pretensious, which is obviously not the case: this movie breathes honesty. There are already enough "common" movies being produced around the world to commit the crime of discarding this one for not being "common". Not all movies are supposed to be for the audience to have "fun". Some of them (the best ones) are supposed to enchant you, as this one does.

Keep up the extraordinary work, Luiz Fernando Carvalho! I had the opportunity of attending the screening of this movie at the Film Festival Rotterdam 2002, where Luiz Fernando spoke. Enlightening. True art and true artist. Thank you.

This movie gained a cult-status because it won more than 30 international awards, received more praise from the Brazilian critics than any other feature of that year, but was never released on DVD or VHS until last week. But the waiting wasn't worthless: the movie is a masterpiece. Few films are so honest and love their characters so much as this one, and has so much faith in it's material. Carvalho's directing is clearly very elaborate, and makes every frame seems poetic... The baroque cinematography and the score reflects perfectly the mood of the characters, the sound mixing is nearly perfect, and the cast is, without exception, magnificent. Certainly one of the most overlooked films ever, but this time, the public cannot be blamed.

This film is certainly a masterpiece and ought to be remembered for all times. It was based on a novel written by Lebanese descendant Raduan Nassar, who was born in Brazil. The story is about a beautiful family of Lebanese heritage that lives in the countryside of Brazil. However, needless to say that peace does not remain in the father's house.

Translated properly, the real film's title is something like "Archaic Farming", because that's what it really is. The film takes place in the mid 30's or 40's and through flashbacks, we get to know about André (Selton Mello) and the reasons that led him to a desperate and at the same time wise decision to leave his home for good. André is a harassed, taciturn, introverted man... a sort of a bad root in the Family tree. His mother, so sweet and tender, loves him above all her children. Such a maternal love suffocates André who finds himself mad because of the ardent love he feels for his sister Ana. André's happiness depends on Ana's actions and movements towards him. In a few words, she's everything in his life. The father is a very strict and severe man who desires above all things, order and tradition in his house. André just can't stand it. After his disastrous sister's rejection, André leaves his home. Nonetheless, his older brother Pedro, goes after him and after finding André, convinces him to get back home.

The ending is surprising for those who haven't read the book but for those who did, it's unforgettable. Lavoura Arcaica is indeed a very beautiful and unusual film. Not everyone is able to watch it until the end and understand it in its all ways and meanings.

The photography is just extraordinary; all the colors on screen are amazing. The soundtrack is excellent. All the actors' performances are great. Selton Mello, who was already a famous actor in Brazil, manages to play a different character this time. I dare to say that the film is just as good as the book. Both are worth watching and reading.

There are so many things that I could say about this film... but really, I'll leave it for you to watch it.

Dare to say "Lavoura Arcaica" is to be a classic film. cinematography, music, acting, directing all compose a camvas of beauty and sheer poetry. All 170 minutes -or so- that the film lasted were breathtaking. This wonderful adaptation of Raduan Nassar's exquisite novel did create images of its own. If it had been Luiz Fernando Carvahlo's only film, that would have been enough for him to be remembered. The way the plot was set, the way the story was told, the way the characters embodied the burden of their family's history, all speak out the battle between passion as a demon and passion as an angel. The screening of the movie in Greece took place at the 47th thessaloniki film festival this year, one of the strong moments of the whole festival.

I read and heard many good comments about the cult "Lavoura Arcaica", and I have been waiting for the DVD for four years. I have just bought the "previously seen" DVD from a rental, and I have not finished watching the movie yet (I have just seen 122 minutes running time, and I am writing this review to rest before the next 50 minutes conclusion). This movie has great cinematography and music score, and an awesome and impressive performance of Selton Mello. Unfortunately the director and screenplay writer Luis Fernando Carvalho wrote a very boring screenplay, forgetting that cinema must have a suitable pace and language. Further, that the viewer not necessarily read the novel of Raduan Nassar before watching his movie. The poetic and erudite lines and dialogs are not adequate for cinema, but for theater. The movie is spoken in my native language, and I am completely tired with two hours of a very heavy and theatrical story. Imagine overseas viewers, trying to read the subtitles with this very unusual text! I have just checked the awards of "Lavoura Arcaica" and most of them refers to cinematography, lead actor, supporting actor and actress and other technical awards (art direction, editing, sound, music etc), which I totally agree. With a better screenplay and pace, "Lavoura Arcaica" could be an excellent movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Lavoura Arcaica" ("Archaic Field Work")

'Stunning' is not an exaggerated word to describe this film. The images are haunting, and I saw it on the small screen at home. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in a theatre.

Director Luiz Fernando Carvalho is masterful in meticulously capturing the poetic word rhythms of novelist Raduan Nassar, who wrote this metaphysical, philosophical work. The largely verbatim prose-poetry (direct from Nasar's book), spoken improvisationally by the actors, is psychologically multi-layered. It is all brilliantly complemented by Walter Cavalho's multi-award-winning cinematography. Cavalho's disturbing and often sumptuous images linger long after the screen has turned dark. One is reminded of Sven Nykvist's haunting style of 'still-life-photography' in films, particularly those made with Ingmar Bergman.

Lavoura Carcaica is almost three hours long, and (isn't this always the way with great films?) it requires an almost immediate re-viewing. One just cannot absorb the language and imagery in one sitting.

The ensemble acting is first-rate. Sultan Mello is the tortured son in temporary self-imposed exile from his family, who yearns (shamefully) for the love and sensual heat of his sister Ana's body; Simone Spoladore is the innocent, sweet-faced Ana, who expresses her desire for love by dancing (the images are more erotic than 99% of the soft-core sex you see in mainstream movies these days); Juliana Carneiro da Cunha is the loving, long-suffering mother who is an exemplar of maternity, a woman who sacrifices everything to her children, and particularly her 'pet,' Andre (Mello); and Raul Cortez is simply astonishing to watch as the austere, evangelistic, hypocritical father who rages about the primacy of familial love but doesn't really understand its true meaning when it comes to his own children.

This is a film that well deserved its many nominations and awards. It is deeply challenging and demanding, and it almost certainly would never have been made in Hollywood.

I would have given it a better score if it werent so slow and tedious... I think portuguese speakers will appreciate it much more than others will since the strongest aspect are the words and poetic style of the film. Photography is great too. A quicker more dynamic pace and we would have had a oscar winner here.

There may be two reasons why Luiz Fernando Carvalho was all over "LavourArcaica" to the point of exhaustion: he wanted to cover all bases to make sure his full vision would reach the screen, or he is a megalomaniac who has to put his signature in every aspect of the filmmaking process and only trust a few to share his view.

I find this work good in sections, but even within these, not everything functions well all the time. Even if he did not have a shooting script as it has been told, but worked the novel as a succession of "reactions", his film is terribly verbose. Walter Carvalho's cinematography is fine, but repetitive, with multiple tracking shots of furniture, floors, nature, or distortions, when not trying to be simply "pretty"; and Selton Mello, while a fine actor, sometimes shouts as if he were performing on a Greek amphitheater for a distant audience. Simone Spoladore is beautiful but silent all through the film, until a late explosion which brings tragic consequences. The father is another wordy figure, while the rest of the family cries, and cries, and cries.

A pity Carvalho (who took 22 years to make his second feature film, while being a full time director of soap operas and a TV movie) did not adapt literature to moving images (this is not, by any means, the case), and leave the editing to someone else who could have reduced all those long tracking shots into reasonable length. Sex had never been so unexciting; while incest (a common practice all over the world, that may cause misery in someone's life or not) is glorified. In any case, watch its almost three hours if you believe in prizes... and this one has won dozens of them.

P.s. I do not have any doubt that this film is called "LavourArcaica", not "Lavoura Arcaica". Merging two words into one is a linguistic and artistic license that director Carvalho took, for it was his right. It is not only on the poster or ads, but on the title card. (I added caption to the image section). This is not a Portuguese class. This is a motion picture with high artistic values. "Correcting" the title is denying art and the author's right.

If you think the dark knight is the best film ever made by mankind. If you cried watching Titanic If you love cgi and action and

explosions...

then this movie is not for you.

By the way, is it a movie? Is it a poem? Is it a painting? Is it theater? It's a masterpiece that can bind all of these arts together into a coherent and - above all - intelligent story.

Another classic that will never be recognized by IMDb users: it's not Hollywood, it's not industry.

IT'S ART

Occasionally one is served a new entrée from foreign films. That is their great attraction. They take from life and serve it up raw. American films, rarely dare to touch the forbidden subjects of society. Too many hang-ups and a morbid fear of financial failure. The Almighty dollar, determines their selections. Something which invites European directors. In addition, audiences world wide remain hungry for "different" films, especially those which offer a savory bite out of the wretched, suffering body of humanity. Despite the fear of directors or producers, many audiences yearn for beauty, poetry, and the pristine flavor of life. That is what the film "To the Left of the Father" offers to curious audiences. A family locked in the belief that unity of family stems from the unity of it's obedience to tradition. Yet when the patriarch of a family forgets it's members are flesh and blood humans, filled with raging, unbridled dreams and dark passions, then the two are set in motions against itself. Selton Mello plays André a son who seeks to control his inner passions with the stagnant philosophy of his father. Raul Cortez plays his Father. Simone Spoladore is Ana a young woman who seeks to quench a forbidden thirst from the family waters. Leonardo Medeiros is Pedro, the elder brother. The film offers much, but does takes an extremely inordinate amount of time to say it. ***

"Lavoura Arcaica" (aka "To The Left of the Father") is one of the most intense films you'll ever see - love it or hate it, it'll be a real experience for you. Devastating could be the best word to describe this masterpiece, based upon Raduan Nassar's brief, but strong novel of the same name. I've wanted to see this film since when it came out, back in 2001 - I read the novel the following year, when I was 14, and was thoroughly fascinated; the film would only be released on DVD in late 2005, and only now I could find a copy and finally watch it. It was worth the wait.

Luiz Fernando Carvalho, who had directed lots of soap operas before making his stunning feature directorial debut, didn't have a screenplay - everything was improvised on the novel, in a process Carvalho called a "reaction", rather than an adaptation, to the exquisite book. The tragic story of André (Selton Mello, perhaps the most versatile Brazilian actor of his generation) who leaves his home because of his tormented passion for his sister Ana (Simone Spoladore), is told with astounding visual taste by Luiz Fernando and cinematographer Walter Carvalho ("Central Station"), a remarkable original score by Marco Antônio Guimarães, and a flawless cast (including sacred monster Raul Cortez and Juliana Carneiro da Cunha as the parents). This is definitely not a film for all tastes, though; 170 minutes long, slow and spoken in Baroque Portuguese (I'm not sure English subtitles can make full justice to Nassar's poetic narrative; but then again, if you don't avoid Wong Kar-Wai's films just because you don't speak Chinese - I certainly don't - you'll be smart enough not to ignore this film). I'd compare "Lavoura Arcaica" to Terrence Malick and Pier Paolo Pasolini, but Luiz Fernando Carvalho managed to make a unique film with his own style. Well deserved winner of over 30 international awards, this is a film that must be discovered. 10/10 in my books.

Lavoura Arcaica is already one of the best movies ever made in Brazil.

Concerning to Photography, it is a Master Class, totally out of conventional patterns. Art Direction is also accurate. Although in some moments the words just repeat what images show completely (no reason for that), it is amazing how a psychological book such as Raduan Nassar's novel has become a mature film. Cinema - in capital letter. A rare gem.

it's a terrific movie. pretty slow, but that's the way the story has to go to put us inside the head of the characters. The silences (and there is a lot of them) are as important as the dialog, witch are pretty intense and full of meaning. The movie is based on a very hard novel, written in Brazilian Portuguese and sometimes is difficult even for Brazilians to understand a few lines. The movie keeps that structure, and it adds powerful images to the sentence. the acting is great, from the leading role to the character Ana, who doesn't speak at all but says a lot with the eyes. It's a difficult film to watch, but it is worth every second!

I agree with most of the reviewers when they say that it's a masterpiece. Nevertheless, I also agree with some others that say that non-Portuguese speaking viewers won't be able to understand completely the extreme lyricism and romanticism (true romanticism - not cliché) of the movie. There's plenty of poetic monologues/dialogues, what brings beauty to the movie along with the rich and majestic screenplay and the exotic soundtrack.

Differently of other spectators, it didn't take much of my patience to watch it. I had a pretty delightful experience. Sometimes I though the movie was going to come to an end, but every new second of projection made me more pleasured. It kept appealing to my feelings until the last moments. When it was not the erudite dialogue, it was the landscapes or the living colours that surprised and aroused me.

Lavoura Arcaica is actually a book written by Raduan Nassar, son of lebanese immigrants which folklore are somewhat depicted in the movie. Nassar studied law and philosophy in São Paulo, what made me notice some decisive influence of contemporary philosophy in the movie. André is a heideggerian youngster while his father is a strict rationalist and traditionalist person. Well, it's better I stop now before I start spoiling the movie. You must watch it! For me, it was a joyful experience. Hope you like it too!

The narrative is slow, but its lyricism and depth justifies that completely. Direction, acting, art direction, set design and photography are superb, impeccable. The original text, transposed almost literally, is beautiful and philosophically meaningful. The movie make us dive into a dense atmosphere of deep and complex emotions, nothing is superficial. Images and sounds fusions in a whirlpool that really touches the spirit, revolving the soul in a dramatic way. The music, mixing elements from Brasil and Lebanon, is marvelous and perfectly harmonic with the whole work. This is not a movie for Oscar prizes or something like that, but the quintessence of the art cinema, and the best movie i have ever seen.

It is like a podcast of the book with no criativity in filmaking. picture is tipical of the series B brazilian novela with fake light and overdrammatic scenes all over the movie. a short 10 min movie could deliver the story. the rest is simply waste of time. Brazilians consider this to be among the best 100 brazilian movies ever made and this says a lot about Brazilian cinema.

Overwhelming! I could not stop think about what I had seen in those delicate, deep images for a long time past I saw the movie. The commitment of director Luiz Fernando Carvalho in putting together all the emotions, conflicts, expectations of those characters is so moving that it is impossible not to embark on that journey, to follow his eyes throughout those bodies, that landscape. The light is so poetic, the frames seem literally like paintings in motion. The way the director captured in images the poetry of the novel makes him one of the most talented filmmakers ever. Luiz Fernando Carvalho is, surely, a gifted sorcerer of this special art.

Carla Madeira

Just marvelous, beautiful, terrific! I get speechless every time I see this movie! Completely baroque, dark, dense... photograph: awesome!Acting: awesome! Script: shocking! It's really the kind of movie that makes you realize the power of film-making... Yes, it's long. Yes, it's heavy. It's not an ordinary film. Yes, it consumes/ plays with your brain. You start to see your own filthy just as at Kubrick's Lolita... actually you want it to happen too... Thanks M. Carvalho, thanks M. Mello and of course thanks to the master Raul Cortez! M. Carvalho is certainly one of the most talented Brazilian directors and M. Mello is one of the best actors of his generation. The Brazilian people should be very proud of this work.

In my opinion, this is the best movie ever made in Portuguese language, and very few in any language are a match for its depth as a cinematographic experience. Its positive aspects are so many that I find it almost a miracle.

Raduan Nassar's text is something from another dimension, and movie director L.F. Carvalho has orchestrated a matching visual symphony for its lines, fearlessly facing the odds involved in a movie with such slow and contemplative pace while maintaining the original text. I cannot recommend it enough; as a matter of fact, I was asking myself if there were any other better movies in the whole world in 2001 and could not think of a single work with a better cinematography, screenplay, soundtrack, cast, lightning and edition; so this is my Oscar for that year.

One can only hope three things: that its recent release will finally make it available for viewers everywhere; that the subtitles' translators are exceptional - anything less than that will mar an otherwise unique experience; and that more movies as brave and beautiful as this would appear.

But I understand that diamonds are rare anyway, and this very rareness is part of their value. A long life and many loving viewers is my wish for this unique masterpiece, along with the book which inspired it.

Well, I've actually seen this one in its entirety only once. First time around I gave up after 2 hours. Then I thought I might as well try again, as there could be some other great scenes in the last 40 minutes that I'd like to see on the big screen. It was worth it. It starts very well, and I like the ending, and there's lots of great stuff in between. But I have to say that 2 hours and 40 minutes was too long for this one. And a bunch of great scenes do not make a great movie just because they're put together, at least not in this case, I don't think so. Anyway, if you're in the mood for slow cinema, try this one.

Saw this at HIFF 2002, Helsinki, Finland. 2 hours and 40 minutes seemed a bit much to me too, as to this is no film to enchant and suck you into the story. Extremely beautiful, but literal, heavy, and in the end: boring. Reminds me of the finnish theater tradition... I haven't read the book. Perhaps I should, as to the story in itself seems strong and interesting enough. Only the writer of the screenplay doesn't seem to have thought about the audiences not familiar with the novel. Perhaps it's also a culture thing. Still, I can't say I regret watching this film.

The idea of the movie was great, but the dialogues and scenes were made not for the cinema, but for theater. Then, it becomes a little too hard to watch, and the language is too erudite. This way, it didn't look like conventional. It is almost impossible to say that you had fun with this movie. Most of the scenes you want to close your eyes and wait until it passes. Selton Mello brights, as usual. But maybe with a more common movie, more people would go to the cinema and watch it, not to say that "I am very intelligent, I watched Lavoura Arcaica". Maybe it is too fair from most of the Brazilian's reality.