Cabra-Cega

While Cabra-Cega strikes me as a very well made and emotionally engaging film, it leaves me in the dark as to what it is trying to say -- even though I'm of course aware of the fact that all narrative genres say things that are more complex than what could be summed up in a sentence. Because of the film's narrow focus on the underground left group at its center, their isolation and suffering -- which latter is in part a consequence of that very isolation -- the movie comes across as a mere celebration of the left revolutionaries during Brazil's military dictatorship. While I don't have a problem with such a celebration, it doesn't seem to be sufficient material for an entire film.

If this film is trying to remind Brazilians of their quite recent authoritarian past, then why doesn't it tell the stories of those who supported and benefited from the military government? Looking back, it's always easy to identify with the victims or those who fought on the right side; it would be more difficult to portray those who operated the torture chambers -- and who may still fill important positions or be otherwise influential in today's Brazil. It seems to me that this film found a way of immersing itself in the recent past that does not encourage viewers to think about how this past connects to and may indeed still be present in today's Brazil.