Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures

In 1942, aspirin is just as new to the inhabitants of the dry and arid north-east of Brazil as the film screenings the young German Johann uses to sell the product. Johann treks from one village to the next. The war in Europe seems far away. Somewhere on one of the scorched roads, he gives a lift to the hitchhiker Ranulpho. Ranulpho sees that Johann’s business is not doing too badly and persuades him to take him on as his assistant. When they are together we get to see their differences: Johann has as much pleasure in the adventurous outdoor life as Ranulfo is grumpy and pessimistic about the ordeals they have to face. Even back then, it was impossible to escape globalisation, that much becomes apparent when Johann hears that he has been called up for military service. Using stories including ones drawn from his grandfather, Gomes (known as scriptwriter of e.g. Madame Sata) has set his first feature in the region of the Sertao, where Glauber Rocha also once made his films. A degree of overexposure ensures a bleached, bare look and a convincing mood of inescapable heat. Slowly but surely, this drama of friendship gets under the viewer’s skin. Gomes’ drama was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and has been selected for the Cannes festival. A sound, human and humorous chronicle of the other side of world history. (GT)

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