Keep on truckin'
My review was written in August 1982 after a Greenwich Village screening.
"Born for Diesel" is a 1979 documentary about truck drivers in Brazil helmed by noted German editor Peter Przygodda with the collaboration of Bruno Tavares Noto. Of specialized interest only, the 16mm picture offers obsessive views of the multi-colored mural decorated trucks, the beautiful landscapes of Bahia and the usual post-"Easy RIder' vistas of the open road.
Overlong at two hours running time and lacking a thematic focus, "Diesel" combines its touristy visuals with interviews of complaining truckers and other roadside denizens. Though utilizing a lengthy shooting schedule and varied locations ranging from Milagres (where Glauber Rocha's "Antonio Das Mortes" was shot) to the old Brazilian capital of Salvador, the film's footage tends to run together and lacks the focus of a narrative road movie.
Voice-over commentary plus subtitled material provides capsule versions of Brazilian history and politics, while the on-screen interviewees make it clear that long-distance trucking in Brazil, as elsewhere, is an under-appreciated and often grueling profession. Yet beyond the verbal complaints, what we see is still an idyllic tropical world and a romantic view of ribbons of highway.
Fans of Przygodda's usual boss and "Diesel's" co-producer Wim Wenderswill appreciate the in-jokes to his road movies. The music track combining local music with druggy guitar and keyboard meanderings also gets a laugh when the natives segue effortlessly from dancing the samba while an off-key local band plays, to bopping when the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" is blasted on a record player.
"Born for Diesel" is a 1979 documentary about truck drivers in Brazil helmed by noted German editor Peter Przygodda with the collaboration of Bruno Tavares Noto. Of specialized interest only, the 16mm picture offers obsessive views of the multi-colored mural decorated trucks, the beautiful landscapes of Bahia and the usual post-"Easy RIder' vistas of the open road.
Overlong at two hours running time and lacking a thematic focus, "Diesel" combines its touristy visuals with interviews of complaining truckers and other roadside denizens. Though utilizing a lengthy shooting schedule and varied locations ranging from Milagres (where Glauber Rocha's "Antonio Das Mortes" was shot) to the old Brazilian capital of Salvador, the film's footage tends to run together and lacks the focus of a narrative road movie.
Voice-over commentary plus subtitled material provides capsule versions of Brazilian history and politics, while the on-screen interviewees make it clear that long-distance trucking in Brazil, as elsewhere, is an under-appreciated and often grueling profession. Yet beyond the verbal complaints, what we see is still an idyllic tropical world and a romantic view of ribbons of highway.
Fans of Przygodda's usual boss and "Diesel's" co-producer Wim Wenderswill appreciate the in-jokes to his road movies. The music track combining local music with druggy guitar and keyboard meanderings also gets a laugh when the natives segue effortlessly from dancing the samba while an off-key local band plays, to bopping when the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" is blasted on a record player.
- lor_
- Jan 16, 2023