Le Dieu noir et le diable blond

Glauber Rocha just 25 when he made this and I was only seven year younger although I had never watched this before but maybe then I might have loved it more but now I find it rather difficult. Clearly I can see that it is an amazing idea but punishing to have done this in Monte Santo, Bahia this drought-ridden hinterland of the North-East of Brazil. Manoel has killed his cheating ranch owner and then his mother dies and he and his wife go off to follow a self proclaimed saint. It is slow, and Christ like but also much violence. Although there is even more to come. It is difficult watching Manoel climb up the mountain on his knees and with a 20 kilo stone on his head and apparently the actor decided he should really do it. I found that during this part I thought of Bunuel with Simon of the Desert (1965) and his man on a column. Towards the end with the last few people moving between each other and I thought of Michelangelo Antonioni. Now and again I wondered about Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970), however this film is on its own and even if it is a bit slow it is surely worth a look.

This film begins wonderfully, brilliantly shot and keenly acted- but right as you're sure it's coming to a close, the music suddenly runs uptempo and the narrator says the equivalent of "Wait, there's more!" and the second segment of the film destroys any credibility the first might have established. The director's portrayal of the desert's harshness lends logically to the lunacy of the characters- but Rosa's actions in the second half seem completely unmotivated, as if the actors ran out of script and just start making things up out of boredom in front of the camera. Laudable attempts at Eisenstein-style multiple-repeat editing are a good idea but using them to cover the low-budget nature of the action scenes is not. Overall worth seeing, but I must warn you that I fell asleep towards the end.

I loved the first two-thirds of this jaw-dropping epic. For my second viewing, this time with a friend, we both agreed that it fell to pieces after that point, becoming incoherent and unfathomable, whilst still being stylish and remaining 'strange'.

The visual sense was part 'Aguirre, Wrath of God' and Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. But, in grainy, high contrast black & white. Camera movements are urgent rather than flowing with the odd editing flourish to enliven the action. We both found this approach initially utterly mesmerising.

This film is of hardcore fanaticism, with religious bigotry and the sheer survival in the harsh scrub desert-lands of northern Brazil. Some scenes are reminiscent of Russian cinematic masterpieces by Eisentstein, as in Ivan the Terrible. I think some scenes will offend and appal many viewers whilst still retaining mystery and that 'Wow, this is something totally different and exciting'. The sort of film that has the critics swooning but with the actual film-lover rather less than overawed.

I'd rather not go into all the narrative in and outs, mostly because it is the overall effect and impression that it has left on me. Unforgettable, true; daring and significant, undoubtedly. But that doesn't make it a film any easier to watch, though. I would give the first two thirds 9/10 and the remainder five.

This movie is so fantastic! I've seen it like 10 times or so, and I still get impressed whenever I watch it. Glauber Rocha, who was a total genius, unites various elements of Brazil's Northeastern culture in a great story about alienation of the people. The story is narrated by a singer who impersonates a regional popular singer; and the visual aspects of the film and the tone of black and white are supposed to resemble the rhymes and the woodcut covers which invoke the "literatura de cordel", or "string literature", which is very common in the northeast of Brazil(not so much today, but certainly in the 60's). The film shows how the powerful control the poorest through violence and intimidation, and how religion and the "Cangaço" movement can be bad when a person without perspective and objectives in life get involved with them. Manuel, the main character, is totally alienated by the "black god" Sebastião, which resembles, in many ways, real Brazilian preacher Antônio Conselheiro; and by the "white devil" Corisco(a real Cangaceiro who worked with real and, in the 20's and 30's, widely famous Cangaço boss Lampião), wonderfully performed by Othon Bastos, while the hired gun Antonio das Mortes is on the look for both Sebastião and Corisco through the badlands of Northeast. This is a real masterpiece!!

This movie is considered by the critics as the most important Brazilian movie of all times. And they are right in this point. An impressive, outstanding portrait of Brazilian rich culture with a focus on some delicate subjects as religion, faith, violence and economic exploration. Rocha made here a fantastic synthesis of the main problems of Brazil, problems that still remained almost forty years after. Great performances by Del Rey and Mauricio do Valle.