This adaptation from Antônio Callado's novel "Quarup" (the film was titled with an "K" probably to ease foreign viewers with pronunciation) can
be described on simple terms as the almost mythical struggle of a man fighting for his beliefs, the better development of souls through love and compassion,
and the progress of poor or underveloped peoples living in a complicated and ever changing nation. But Ruy Guerra's film, with its countless ambitions,
just as the ones faced by the main character, aims at so many directions, genres through a travel to Brazil history covering a 10-year period, that most
viewers will find it complicated, highly politicized and confusing. Mr. Guerra succeed it, though not with everything. There's a very good film to be
rediscovered that not only portrays Brazilian society and its dramatic political changes over a difficult period, but also presents one
of the most unusual and interesting persepctives formed by a man and his evolution through that period.
Our naive hero is Nando (Taumaturgo Ferreira), a young and idealist Jesuit priest who wants to recreate the idea of Jesuist missions with
the indians on the area of Xingu. To get the idea done and with some support coming from president Vargas administration, he travels to Rio to meet
with bureacrats who are involved with the native preservation and their territories but they don't want Nando's revolutionary ideals as they're
considered the same as the Communist ideals (there are similarities if you look deep into it). The group, formed by prominent members of society and a
drunk INCRA representant (Umberto Magnani) who already lives with the indians but already knows their cause is lost, they prefer to alienate the priest by
introducing him to the "salvation" of lavish dinners, filled with alcohol, getting high on eter and the temptation of women (as he struggles with his
faith and control over all the naked female indians he'll have to live with in the Amazon).
That portion of the film takes place in 1954 during the tumultuous final days of Vargas, facing a political crisis that ended with his
suicide. And by that time, the group is already on Xingu, developing their projects with the natives and for obvious reasons their main project fails
when the president dies. Cut to 1961, Nando is already integrated with the natives and he's no longer a church member. The same group returns with some
small change of characters, and their mission is to mark off the geographical center of Brazil and they'll have to deal with unidentified tribes
where the white men hasn't reached, to complete the job. Another political crisis takes place, a highly treasured woman from the group disappears after
fooling around with a native and the job changes in finding her. The third part is told through flashbacks in between both parts and it happens in
1964, and by that time Nando is already turned into a union leader who teaches poor workers in getting education, and he's already a man who fell from
the grace of God to know the grace of women, in particular Francisca (Fernanda Torres), the bride of a killed revolutionary and Nando falls in love with
her.
But what about "Kuarup"? Here lies some of my disenchantment with the film (also the book). Quarup is a native's ritual from Xingu tribes where
they celebrate their dead and ancestors, going back to an old mythology where during the event they could rise the dead, specially important tribe leaders. It's a long feast, with plenty of food, cultural presentations, fights and dances. The feast is one of the most awaited moments by the tribe and the
group working there, but it's a pity we don't get to see much about the event, neither the mythology is presented, which would hold a certain relevance
as to all those personal transitions faced by Nando and even how some dreams and idealization always fail to happen when confronted with reality. The Quarup
myth ideal of bringing back the dead failed because one native failed to comply with an important ruling of avoiding sexual acts. My take on this and
the relation with Nando is that some selifsh acts can harm greater things for a whole community - though Nando's discover of sex goes way back Xingu,
my take relates to his decisions of abandoning original plans. The film and the book does not offer a wide view of what Quarup is (I had to research), so a lot of people
will bang their heads into wondering why it's important to the story.
I liked both medias but they're not complete works of art - the book is slightly better as you really experience a travel to Xingu and beyond,
while Guerra's film is a puzzling narrative with so many back-and-forth that doesn't help the narrative. The film was a fascinating experience while showing
this simple man's trajectory, his growing as a human being who slowly realises that he cannot be the idealist saint he wanted to be, he's a flawed man
with a great heart, always eager to help those in need but also naive in thinking the bigger works in progress through politics and wealthy men
would help him in his resolution of creating a fair society. I like the fact that he's a changed man in several ways but his progressive causes remained
the same; there's value on a person who's beaten and reshapen on many designs yet he struggles for justice, love and peace. I believe Nando has an idealism
that many of us follow through our lives but the problem lies that sometimes we don't know exactly where those ideals will take us, or where our heart
truly belongs.
Speaking of heart and where it belongs, "Kuarup" is a film hard to define due to its mix of genres (adventure in the woods, historical/political drama
with some romantic and funny bits) and with a leading character who is passive-agressive through many of his ordeals. On a deeper level, I see it as the
story of man who needed to lose himself, get out of his shell of idealisms in order to see the real world and how he could affect the whole process of
change, though he's almost all alone in his cause and the enemies are far too many. Audiences like those themes but in this particular experience you'll
struggle a little to get it. But it's all rewarding. 8/10.
