Drifter

Drifter is the second film from Guimarães’ trilogy about loneliness and is the sequel to The Soul of the Bone (2004). The director travelled around with his small crew on several federal roads in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Here he found three lonely travellers: Valdemar, Nercino and Paulão. They roam around on their own, without any destination, only on their way to the next moment, and as a result each has his own link to the landscape. Sometimes they bump into each other. The director films them without much intervention, focusing on their world. The personal backgrounds however remain vague, their mental state without diagnosis.
Guimarães does not seem so interested in the precise biography as in the philosophical values encapsulated in their outbursts, silences and anecdotes to others. Each of the characters has his own version of life to tell, varying from plot theories about negative spirits to practical reflections of the human spirit. More and more, it seems that the characters become whipped up in their own projections and dissolve in the places and sounds around them.