Lamarca

Sergio Rezende was already one of Brazil's best-known directors when he took on LAMARCA, the story of a controversial Socialist/Communist activist with strong connections to Castro's Cuba. With LAMARCA, he continued elaborating on historical themes and personalities, but now on a grander scale, in what in retrospect is his first Brazilian historical epic (even if LAMARCA is pretty recent history). If you enjoy LAMARCA, move on to "Guerra de CANUDOS," (1997), the most grandiose and spectacular Brazilian film ever (as described by critics on its video cover at the time), and then to his latest spectacle MAUA, one of the most expensive historical epics ever produced by a Latin American country. In LAMARCA, he is perhaps at his best, before giving in to alleged excesses in his later work. Paulo Betti (who also starred in Rezende's subsequent film CANUDOS) is excellent in the title role.

Sérgio Rezende's movie is a strong and well done movie on dire Brazilian military dictatorship, focusing a core character from the resistance against autocratic rule, communist guerrilla leader and former Army captain Carlos Lamarca, well played by Paulo Betti. This is particulary remarkable if one considers the deep crisis Brazilian cinema faced those years. It was released before "Retomada", when there was very little investment in producing films in Brazil, and very few movies were made in the country. Given those constraints, even an irregular but interesting movie could be acknowlwdged as an achievement, but this is not the case. Lamarca is more than that: it is a very solid movie, with good characters, direction, script, art direction, pace. It is also very brave in the way it highlights important political issues which are often hidden. That didactism is not reached at cost of the film's narrative fluidity, what must also be praised. All actors do a great job, not only Paulo Betti: Carla Camuratti as Iara Iavelberg, Deborah Evelyn as Lamarca's wife, Eliezer de Almeida as "Zequinha" José Campos Barreto, Ernani Moraes as DOPS commissioner Flores (actually coward Sérgio Fleury), José de Abreu and Carlos Zara as military officers, and so forth. Torture scenes and each revolutionary who dies on screen are pinches in our hearts. Moving and politically important film, and a milestone in Brazilian cinema.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brazilian film industry had witnessed a complete decline. It was both related to quality and quantity of films which were made in Brazil. Things begin to change for Brazilian cinema in 1994 when Lamarca was released. In many ways, it is considered a pioneer film for Brazilian cinema as it portrayed the life of an army general who gave up his career in order to support the cause of poor people of Brazil. Although the film maintains a certain authenticity to real events which were part of general Lamarca's life, director Sergio Rezende took proper care to ensure that numerous fictional elements were properly integrated in order to strike a fine balance between entertainment and the depiction of history on screen. The performance by actor Paulo Betti is one of the important reasons to watch this film about a man who claimed that he would always remain a military man but was forced to switch sides in order to fight injustice on behalf of the oppressed people. What is shocking about Lamarca's death is that it was caused due to the treachery of the very people whose rights were being defended by him. This is something which lessens the role of Brazilian military in the killing of general Lamarca. At a time when overall quality of biopics has declined a lot, Sergio Rezende's 'Lamarca' would turn out to be a great viewing experience as it presents events and facts as they were without bothering to meddle with any kind of tinkering.