O Grito da Terra

"O Grito da Terra" has an interesting topic at its disposal (the battle for land in the Northeast area of Brazil, a conflict between poor land owners and colonel figures who take over everything by the power of money or by the power of force and guns), and it was done in 1964, a tumultous political year since João Goulart administration was overthrown by the military and one of the president's main programs were related with the land reform and land distribution to poor rural communities. A pity that the film is so episodic and so scattered all over the place with countless characters, becoming tiring and difficult to follow. I don't feel too good giving it a thumbs down as there were countless of good memorable moments, and the whole discussion about those who have and those who have not that bears a relevance even today when looking at poverty and social injustices.

But it was a hard watch, slightly rewarding.

In a poor desert area of Bahia, where seasons of drought and hunger doesn't seem to end year after year, a powerful land baron (João Di Sordi) establishes his ruling on everything, buying lands and kicking out whoever goes into debt with him - as he also sells goods and supplies in the region.

The young women played by Helena Ignez and Lucy de Carvalho are very good friends and whose parents can't find ways to keep their small farms neither sell what they grow; and the girls only hope is to find some decent husband to marry and the possibility of moving to a big city. One of them is soon to be engaged; the other gets harrassed by the baron's foreman. And the arrival of a teacher (Lidio Silva) that helps the poor rural workers shake things up, as he's a lot more inclined than teaching the alphabet, it's about a social organization where each men, women and children will find a way to fight back the wrongs from the place, much to the contempt of the rich farmer.

The ruthless character played by João Di Sordi is a dominating presence everywhere - easily the best performance of the movie. Uncaring, greedy and terribly powerful, the rich baron doesn't have any limits and you can feel that he's capable of causing harm to anyone against him. He only lets his guard down when he falls in love with Lucy de Carvalho's character, to the point of buying her a goat in an auction; and by that time in the desolation and hopelessness of it all, the girl takes advantage of his proximity, which can be her only escape from a life of misery - even if it means leaving her parents behind through a way of betrayal. And another thing about this character is the joking manner in which he assures people to keep calm as the government will create the land reform. Hard to tell if writers Olney São Paulo and Ciro de Carvalho Leite were making some political statement on behalf of the cause, supporting it. But after seeing the tragedy and unfairness of it all, it makes total sense for such "propaganda" for the cause.

The excessive amount of scenarios and characters make it all look like a confusing vignette of sorts, where everybody suffers, nothing is achieved and audiences keep on waiting for tragedy and killings to happen. It is a very believable reality, but the director failed to make it worth seeing or worth reflecting. The few good sequences help a little but never the entirety of the film. 5/10.