To the Left of the Father

This film is certainly a masterpiece and ought to be remembered for all times. It was based on a novel written by Lebanese descendant Raduan Nassar, who was born in Brazil. The story is about a beautiful family of Lebanese heritage that lives in the countryside of Brazil. However, needless to say that peace does not remain in the father's house.

Translated properly, the real film's title is something like "Archaic Farming", because that's what it really is. The film takes place in the mid 30's or 40's and through flashbacks, we get to know about André (Selton Mello) and the reasons that led him to a desperate and at the same time wise decision to leave his home for good. André is a harassed, taciturn, introverted man... a sort of a bad root in the Family tree. His mother, so sweet and tender, loves him above all her children. Such a maternal love suffocates André who finds himself mad because of the ardent love he feels for his sister Ana. André's happiness depends on Ana's actions and movements towards him. In a few words, she's everything in his life. The father is a very strict and severe man who desires above all things, order and tradition in his house. André just can't stand it. After his disastrous sister's rejection, André leaves his home. Nonetheless, his older brother Pedro, goes after him and after finding André, convinces him to get back home.

The ending is surprising for those who haven't read the book but for those who did, it's unforgettable. Lavoura Arcaica is indeed a very beautiful and unusual film. Not everyone is able to watch it until the end and understand it in its all ways and meanings.

The photography is just extraordinary; all the colors on screen are amazing. The soundtrack is excellent. All the actors' performances are great. Selton Mello, who was already a famous actor in Brazil, manages to play a different character this time. I dare to say that the film is just as good as the book. Both are worth watching and reading.

There are so many things that I could say about this film... but really, I'll leave it for you to watch it.

Well, I've actually seen this one in its entirety only once. First time around I gave up after 2 hours. Then I thought I might as well try again, as there could be some other great scenes in the last 40 minutes that I'd like to see on the big screen. It was worth it. It starts very well, and I like the ending, and there's lots of great stuff in between. But I have to say that 2 hours and 40 minutes was too long for this one. And a bunch of great scenes do not make a great movie just because they're put together, at least not in this case, I don't think so. Anyway, if you're in the mood for slow cinema, try this one.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is a spectacular example of the new brazillian movie-making!

It is a technically perfect movie, with a brilliant cinematography and a masterful photography. The scenes are very well built and the director truly owns this movie. Of course, it derives from one of the masterpieces of recent literature, Raduan Nassar's impressive novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and have to disagree with Flavio Velames comment, complaining about it being too erudite. There's only such thing if a movie is pretensious, which is obviously not the case: this movie breathes honesty. There are already enough "common" movies being produced around the world to commit the crime of discarding this one for not being "common". Not all movies are supposed to be for the audience to have "fun". Some of them (the best ones) are supposed to enchant you, as this one does.

Keep up the extraordinary work, Luiz Fernando Carvalho! I had the opportunity of attending the screening of this movie at the Film Festival Rotterdam 2002, where Luiz Fernando spoke. Enlightening. True art and true artist. Thank you.

'Stunning' is not an exaggerated word to describe this film. The images are haunting, and I saw it on the small screen at home. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in a theatre.

Director Luiz Fernando Carvalho is masterful in meticulously capturing the poetic word rhythms of novelist Raduan Nassar, who wrote this metaphysical, philosophical work. The largely verbatim prose-poetry (direct from Nasar's book), spoken improvisationally by the actors, is psychologically multi-layered. It is all brilliantly complemented by Walter Cavalho's multi-award-winning cinematography. Cavalho's disturbing and often sumptuous images linger long after the screen has turned dark. One is reminded of Sven Nykvist's haunting style of 'still-life-photography' in films, particularly those made with Ingmar Bergman.

Lavoura Carcaica is almost three hours long, and (isn't this always the way with great films?) it requires an almost immediate re-viewing. One just cannot absorb the language and imagery in one sitting.

The ensemble acting is first-rate. Sultan Mello is the tortured son in temporary self-imposed exile from his family, who yearns (shamefully) for the love and sensual heat of his sister Ana's body; Simone Spoladore is the innocent, sweet-faced Ana, who expresses her desire for love by dancing (the images are more erotic than 99% of the soft-core sex you see in mainstream movies these days); Juliana Carneiro da Cunha is the loving, long-suffering mother who is an exemplar of maternity, a woman who sacrifices everything to her children, and particularly her 'pet,' Andre (Mello); and Raul Cortez is simply astonishing to watch as the austere, evangelistic, hypocritical father who rages about the primacy of familial love but doesn't really understand its true meaning when it comes to his own children.

This is a film that well deserved its many nominations and awards. It is deeply challenging and demanding, and it almost certainly would never have been made in Hollywood.

"Lavoura Arcaica" (aka "To The Left of the Father") is one of the most intense films you'll ever see - love it or hate it, it'll be a real experience for you. Devastating could be the best word to describe this masterpiece, based upon Raduan Nassar's brief, but strong novel of the same name. I've wanted to see this film since when it came out, back in 2001 - I read the novel the following year, when I was 14, and was thoroughly fascinated; the film would only be released on DVD in late 2005, and only now I could find a copy and finally watch it. It was worth the wait.

Luiz Fernando Carvalho, who had directed lots of soap operas before making his stunning feature directorial debut, didn't have a screenplay - everything was improvised on the novel, in a process Carvalho called a "reaction", rather than an adaptation, to the exquisite book. The tragic story of André (Selton Mello, perhaps the most versatile Brazilian actor of his generation) who leaves his home because of his tormented passion for his sister Ana (Simone Spoladore), is told with astounding visual taste by Luiz Fernando and cinematographer Walter Carvalho ("Central Station"), a remarkable original score by Marco Antônio Guimarães, and a flawless cast (including sacred monster Raul Cortez and Juliana Carneiro da Cunha as the parents). This is definitely not a film for all tastes, though; 170 minutes long, slow and spoken in Baroque Portuguese (I'm not sure English subtitles can make full justice to Nassar's poetic narrative; but then again, if you don't avoid Wong Kar-Wai's films just because you don't speak Chinese - I certainly don't - you'll be smart enough not to ignore this film). I'd compare "Lavoura Arcaica" to Terrence Malick and Pier Paolo Pasolini, but Luiz Fernando Carvalho managed to make a unique film with his own style. Well deserved winner of over 30 international awards, this is a film that must be discovered. 10/10 in my books.