Boi Neon

We all have heard something about Brazil. Carnival, favelas, soccer... One thing that I discovered watching this film is that I truly no nothing about this country and that still being a mystery to me, what is magical by the way. Different from some famous Brazilian movies (like City of God) Boi Neon don't talk about poverty or favelas, actually it's a movie about possibilities and dreams. The story of Iremar, a cowpoke who dreams with glitter and dresses show us a new world of possibilities coming from all Brazil. A truly beautiful way to tell the story of a nation who is constantly changing, full of hope and creativity. Director Gabriel Mascaro films all his character as an observer, someone from outside that don't even wants to move a hand to interfere in such a natural spectacle. At the same time his fascination almost eat the screen and this ferocity can reflect in the audience, completely enrapture. Boi Neon (Neon Bull) is magic, dream, a new way to see a country, a new way to see films. It's definitely not the kind of film we see everyday.

A very naturalistic approach, an honest eye, nothing feels enhanced, curated or manipulated, although it surely has, it's a movie. But the impression is that of a fly on the wall camera shooting some sort of South-American road movie and it's of course very fresh because we rarely get to see that kind of life, landscape, culture, even people. It took me a while to understand the concept of the rodeo here because it's so wildly different from US ones, these bulls barely look like bulls and the purpose is to grab them by the tail and make them fall down. Crazy right? It took me a while to understand the first scene, where he dusts the bull's tail.

So nothing is censored and we get a lot of profanity, nudity, abuse and even child abuse, rough living, a hard life that these guys don't complain that much about. They want more money to do or get other stuff, but the odd thing about it is that at least Iremar seems to enjoy what he does for a living, or at least not to be bothered by it. He doesn't hide or block the other side of him. He just lives his life.

It's a fine movie for the above reasons and if that sounds interesting go ahead. It didn't blow my mind as some said it would, it didn't even rock my evening and it was difficult to find but I personally don't regret seeing it. I appreciate the otherness of this movie. But it didn't do it for me.

Behind the scenes of the vaquejadas, Iremar and a group of cowboys prepare the bulls before releasing them into the arena. The daily routine is intense and visceral, but Iremar's ambitions are greater: lying in his hammock mounted on the back of the truck, he dreams of sequins, exquisite fabrics and fashion designs.

Slow, which even in 1.5 seemed slow, a sincere and delicate portrait of the struggle of the countryside, the ill-fated agro, with a strong and pleasant accent, rudimentary and rupestrian life, a dazzling chaotic energy, whether due to the strength of these people, the joy of small pleasures, the family affection, the sex scenes, of fantastic poetry and aesthetic beauty, with tenderness and aridity, the sad condescension of the lack of hope, the infamous poverty and the inversion of gender roles, perfect and necessary...

This is a curious movie. It has no plot, no story, not even a premise that I could put my finger on. It's a bit like a documentary: we follow for a few days a little group of relatives (3 men, a woman and a little daughter) who work for a rodeo, somewhere in rural Brazil. We see them in their every day lives, doing their work and chores, eating, sleeping, relaxing, having sex, without anything special ever happening. The only thing slightly remarkable is the fact that male character Iremar as a hobby designs and sews dresses, that are worn by the woman when she performs her sexy dance routine for a crowd of roaring cowboys.

The pace is slow, we mainly observe, the dialogues are sparse, and the short scenes alternate as if at random, but always with the camera close by, which results in an intense realistic and authentic feeling. A warning to animal-lovers: the rough treatment of the bulls, as well as a manual "milking" of a stallion for its sperm is all shown without restraint! There is also one very graphic sex scene between Irimar and a pregnant woman, that - a bit out of character with the rest - is disproportionately prolonged to almost ten minutes. Although it is filmed beautifully in clair obscure, I do wonder why director Gabriel Mascaro chose to make it so extensive.

The movie ends pretty much in mid air, with nothing at all changed since the opening scene. Leaving me with a feeling of what was the purpose of it all. We were allowed a few furtive glances into the lives of some hard working people, but hardly got any deeper than that, so we didn't really got to know them. It's an interesting, and definitely a sincere movie, but - as far as I'm concerned - nothing more.

Beautiful film, thoughtful, intriguing with wonderful cinematography and performances and some great, inventive well-written scenes, definitely worth watching. But: Do not watch if you cannot see animal cruelty depicted. No idea what obscenely cruel humans invented and still perpetuate this absolutely horrible bull sport depicted in the film, some have tried to ban it but been overruled by 'cultural' exceptions' -culture should not excuse it- it is horrifying.