The last film by Gerlado Sarno (I am seriously upset not having known him before his death) is pure art. While certainly not attracting average spectator, with slow pace, lack of linearity, and a black and white cinematography that seems to have been made six decades earlier, it is no less than amazing: it has possibly the most beautiful cinematography ever in Brazilian cinema, and the soundtrack is awesome and combines perfectly with images. The poetry of the images of Northeastern culture and religion, the blurred image when Antão is hurt and there is a fantastic transition to his memories, wide-angle lens under sunlight, the fast vintage industrial clipping of footage of the big city, the scenes that remind catholic iconography (saints with hallos, baroque Jesus... and obviously The Last Supper!)... nothing is ordinary. The life story of Antão is much more than the story of an individual: it is the whole Brazilian Northeastern hinterland, the Cangaço (historic local banditism), and the lives of million who have harsh lives and eventually migrate to Southeastern big cities.
