QCinema 2019: Bacurau
You sense that something strange is going on in "Bacurau" (2019, Brazil) when, in one startling scene, a teacher is unable to point to his students the location of the titular fictional sun-scorched town on a map, suggesting that it might have already "disappeared" from the face of the Earth. Subsequent turn of events reinforce the fact that this is actually close to happening (already portended in the opening scene), as a group of well-off foreigners (mostly Americans) is in town for some nasty business: to hunt down and kill live people just for the kick of it. For these privileged sickos, there is no better place to serve as a hunting ground than the God-forsaken Bacurau.
The third narrative feature of Brazilian auteur Kleber Mendonça-Filho, this time co-directing with frequent production designer Juliano Dornelles, might be their most accessible work yet, but has to be considered their best. Much like Nadav Lapid's "Synonymes", "Bacurau" gifts the viewers with an altogether different level of cinematic experience, something that they would not likely encounter in any other film that they will get to see this year. However, unlike "Synonymes", which is virtually impossible to categorize in any way (which is exactly the point), "Bacurau" can be seen to work both ways: as a weird genre hybrid of the wild western and a John Carpenter town-in-terror thriller, and as an arthouse meditation on such universal and timeless (even topical) themes of racial violence and prejudice, neo-colonial supremacy, and political corruption. The film's dual aspects cannot work independently of each other, though. Rather, it is through the one that the other works.
To function as a genre vehicle alone might make "Bacurau" devoid of any meaningful subtext. While if it becomes a purely auteurist work, it might turn out to be too serious for comfort. That is why the film is a truly exceptional viewing experience, in that while it manages to entertain as a genre outing, it also conveys a deeply significant sociopolitical subtext, one that can speak of the times as well. This could not be more telling than in the unhinged scene where the group of hunters, led by the effortless Udo Kier (who else?), gathers around a table to talk about their plans and tactics against the Bacurau townsfolk. There are some racial slurs that spill out, until two of the hunters meet their grisly end, for the fact that they are not "purely" white.
From there on, things get even more grisly as a few more lives are unnecessarily claimed to satisfy the morbid pleasures of these self-entitled intruders. But the Bacurau people won't let these bloodhounds decimate their entire town all too easily. Thus, led by such town denizens as the macho Pacote (Thomas Aquino), the returning Teresa (Barbara Colen), the wisened doctor Dominga (Sonia Braga), and the vicious renegade Lunga (Silvero Pereira), they stage their retaliation against the intruders. At this point, everything goes as bloody as hell, with few revelations as to why Bacurau has become such a hotbed of senseless violence (read: corruption).
This allegorical tale is brutal and wicked, strange and whacko, fuelled by a sharp screenplay, a strong cast of characters, and a masterful direction. It is the kind of uncompromising cinema that pumps up one's adrenaline and makes one even more high on the art of filmmaking. "Bacurau" does not hit even one wrong note. The use of Panavision (with such cinematic tricks as dissolves, slow zoom-ins, overhead shots, side-swipes, panoramic shots) heightens further the experience of watching the film on the big screen. With a jury president like Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu not far from making a film like this, it should be no wonder that "Bacurau" did not leave Cannes without taking a prize.
This year's edition of QCinema had no dearth of incredible foreign-language films. But there were a few ones that let us see things in a different and refreshing light: Germany's "System Crasher", France/Israel's "Synonymes", Guatemala's "José" and, of course, Brazil's "Bacurau".
The third narrative feature of Brazilian auteur Kleber Mendonça-Filho, this time co-directing with frequent production designer Juliano Dornelles, might be their most accessible work yet, but has to be considered their best. Much like Nadav Lapid's "Synonymes", "Bacurau" gifts the viewers with an altogether different level of cinematic experience, something that they would not likely encounter in any other film that they will get to see this year. However, unlike "Synonymes", which is virtually impossible to categorize in any way (which is exactly the point), "Bacurau" can be seen to work both ways: as a weird genre hybrid of the wild western and a John Carpenter town-in-terror thriller, and as an arthouse meditation on such universal and timeless (even topical) themes of racial violence and prejudice, neo-colonial supremacy, and political corruption. The film's dual aspects cannot work independently of each other, though. Rather, it is through the one that the other works.
To function as a genre vehicle alone might make "Bacurau" devoid of any meaningful subtext. While if it becomes a purely auteurist work, it might turn out to be too serious for comfort. That is why the film is a truly exceptional viewing experience, in that while it manages to entertain as a genre outing, it also conveys a deeply significant sociopolitical subtext, one that can speak of the times as well. This could not be more telling than in the unhinged scene where the group of hunters, led by the effortless Udo Kier (who else?), gathers around a table to talk about their plans and tactics against the Bacurau townsfolk. There are some racial slurs that spill out, until two of the hunters meet their grisly end, for the fact that they are not "purely" white.
From there on, things get even more grisly as a few more lives are unnecessarily claimed to satisfy the morbid pleasures of these self-entitled intruders. But the Bacurau people won't let these bloodhounds decimate their entire town all too easily. Thus, led by such town denizens as the macho Pacote (Thomas Aquino), the returning Teresa (Barbara Colen), the wisened doctor Dominga (Sonia Braga), and the vicious renegade Lunga (Silvero Pereira), they stage their retaliation against the intruders. At this point, everything goes as bloody as hell, with few revelations as to why Bacurau has become such a hotbed of senseless violence (read: corruption).
This allegorical tale is brutal and wicked, strange and whacko, fuelled by a sharp screenplay, a strong cast of characters, and a masterful direction. It is the kind of uncompromising cinema that pumps up one's adrenaline and makes one even more high on the art of filmmaking. "Bacurau" does not hit even one wrong note. The use of Panavision (with such cinematic tricks as dissolves, slow zoom-ins, overhead shots, side-swipes, panoramic shots) heightens further the experience of watching the film on the big screen. With a jury president like Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu not far from making a film like this, it should be no wonder that "Bacurau" did not leave Cannes without taking a prize.
This year's edition of QCinema had no dearth of incredible foreign-language films. But there were a few ones that let us see things in a different and refreshing light: Germany's "System Crasher", France/Israel's "Synonymes", Guatemala's "José" and, of course, Brazil's "Bacurau".
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