Barravento, 1962
Firmino (Antonio Pitanga) returns to his native island after spending time away in the city. Once home, he is agitated by what he sees as the community's passiveness in the face of oppression and their use of magical rituals. These social dynamics get tangled up in complicated romantic friction as Firmino grows increasingly jealous of Arua (Aldo Teixeira), a strapping young fisherman who is considered to be blessed by the goddess of the sea. Firmino is interested in both Cota (Luiza Maranhao) and Naina (Lucy de Carvalho).
This was a film that I enjoyed more and more as it went on.
Initially, as I was watching the story unfold, I was sort of grousing to myself that the film was being muddled about the point that it was trying to make. Are the rituals of the people on the island (singing as they haul in nets, dancing in the moonlight) meant to be joyful? Or are they meant to represent an ignorant way of life that allows them to be exploited for their labor? Are the magical rituals meant, likewise, to show ignorance, or are they meant to show a connection between the people and the powerful natural forces that govern their survival?
But around a third of the way into the film, I realized that the "muddle" is the point. The answer is not necessarily one or the other. And part of the point is that even the most pure ideals and convictions are subject to corruption by human emotion.
The central expression of this is Firmino's destructive relationship with Arua. Both of them are smart, charismatic young men who could be powerful if their forces were combined. But instead Firmino allows himself to indulge in a hatred of his rival. He attempts to use a magical ritual to drown Arua, dismissing the magical rituals as nonsense
after it fails to kill of Arua. Likewise, there is something about Arua that goes right up to the edge of the difference between magic and the magic of belief. Is Arua actually blessed by the ocean god? It certainly seems that way. But in addition to bringing in a good haul of fish, this blessing also takes the form of the confidence of the other villagers. It keeps them from despair when their net is ripped and eventually taken away by the man who employs them.
A story centered almost entirely on the lower class can run the risk of suggesting that they are mostly or entirely at fault for their own condition. That if they'd just stop holding their silly beliefs in magic and sea gods, they could be more successful and independent. Because we only see one interaction between the islanders and their employer----a sequence in which he hauls their net away with the assistance of armed guards---the only thing seen holding them back from financial stability is their own in-fighting and decisions. While there are clearly some implications that in-fighting or jealousy can sabotage collective action, it seems pretty clear to me that midnight dances and the occasional magic ritual aren't why the people on the island are poor.
There was also a subplot around Naina and her father, and also with Naina and the women running the magical rituals. I will admit that I didn't totally follow the thread of this piece of the film. I was unsure about the implications---perhaps that she had been fathered by a white man because of her skin color?--and if anyone else has seen this film and has thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
I will also mention (because I appreciate when others mention), that there is some unsimulated animal death in this movie, in the form a close up of chickens being killed in one of the rituals.
A really interesting film that had not been on my radar previously.