Narradores de Javé

Once more we can find art in the simplest of ordinary things. As days go by I am more convinced that we don't really need to look for vary elaborated films (nothing against them, of course) to see beauty and value. European and Brazilian cinema are live evidences of this thought. There many films which may be cited as great examples (many of them I have written about here in IMDb) of this.

"Narradores de Javé", a generally hidden treasure even here in Brazil, is a very good Brazilian film with a simple, but good story. In a small village called Javé, the inhabitants are told to leave their home once the government plans to built a hydroelectric dam in the place. In despair, the population decides to write a document where all the values and traditions of the place would be together and thus stop the construction of the dam. The problem is, nobody in the village is able to write such paper. The solution is to invite Antônio Biá, a former inhabitant of the city, to do the job. Antônio then starts interviewing the people in the city and hears all the stories they have to tell. He has to decide what is true, legend or just a lie. The interviews happen among discussions, arguments and even physical fights. Many funny situations arise, specially for Brazilian who can enjoy the local accent and jokes. International audience, can have a very good time too, once the acting is superb and the scenery is beautiful.

While waiting in a bar for a boat to cross a river, a man tells the story of Javé, a small town in the country of Bahia doomed to be submerged by the waters of a hydroelectric dam. When the illiterate dwellers of Javé find that their village will be flooded, they decide to "scientifically" document the story of Javé to show the historical importance of the place and present motives to stop the construction of the hydroelectric. However, only the former postman and persona non-grata Antônio Biá (José Dumont), who used the intimacy of the villagers to save his job in the post office, can write, but the population assigns him to register in a book the report of the remembrances of the storytellers.

"Narradores de Javé" is a funny and dramatic simple story supported by a good and original screenplay, great direction and excellent performances of the cast formed by actors, actresses and amateurish simple persons. This low-budget movie presents a great political final speech of Antonio Biá, in one of the best moments of this little gem, when he shows the lack of importance of them to the powerful.

In addition to the awards listed in IMDb, this movie was also awarded in the following festivals: (1) three categories in the Rio Film Festival (Best Film – Popular Jury; Best Film – Official Jury; Best Actor – José Dumont); (2) nine Awards in the Recife Film Festival ("Cine PE - Festival do Audiovisual 2003") with seven "Troféus Calunga" (Best Film, Best Direction, Best Edition; Best Actor (José Dumont), Best Support Actor (Gero Camilo), Best Sound Edition and Best Support Actress (Luci Pereira)) plus one award of the Critics and the Prize Gilberto Freyre); and (3) Best Movie in the 5th Festival des 3 Amériques 2004, Québec, Canada. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Narradores de Javé" ("Narrators of Javé")

This movie shows one more of the facets of the brazilian people. The film runs in a small village in Sertao, Bahia - northeast Brazil. The local people need someone that can write their stories to save this small town called Javé. The only one that can write is Antônio Biá, who in the past used the community to save his job and to his own profits, and after that he ended up being banished. But now they need his services...

And then the story goes by all the reports given by the dwellers, and how they are dueling to see who's report is the right one, whose's report is going to be written down...But then the "Progress" came and they can't do much about it.

It is a simple story, about modest people, and the beauty of the movie is exactly on that. It is a good movie about this brazilian reality, maybe not really critical, but good.

Very good movie, the plot is compelling from the first scenes, the story develops and ends very well, its plus is Biá's hilarious comedy and his point of view of reality.

In addition, the subtext that the plot carries with it is worthy of analysis and leads us to think about many things, literacy, historical method, oral histories, the sense of belonging, the subjugation of industrial development over populations, among other topics.

I saw this film at the Rotterdam Film festival a few years ago. We in Europe do not often get a chance to see Brazilian films. This one was a great surprise after some awful films that were screened at the Festival. The story is interesting, acting is good, there are a lot of comic elements for some good laughs, and it was so refreshing to see a film about ordinary people in a god forsaken place, trying to make a mark in the world. The entire film crew was present at the screening, and were obviously very excited, because the film was screened at the biggest cinema's room which was overcrowded with people. It's a pity films like this never get to the cinemas. Highly recommended, if you're able to find it.