The Call of the Oboe

The Call of the Oboe is a magic-realistic parable about life and death in which a sick man manages to bring a dead village back to life.The musician Augusto doesn’t have much time left to live: he is looking for a quiet spot to die. With his oboe, he treks into the interior of Brazil. In a village, he meets Aurore, hairdresser and owner of the local cinema that has not been used for years. She asks him to make music to go with the old silent films that are lying in the cinema gathering dust, in the hope of awakening renewed interest in her business.Augusto complies with her request and people do flood in, fascinated by the pictures and by the sound of the oboe. Everyone is enthralled by the new, unknown world that reveals itself on the silver screen. Inspired by the romantic dramas, the young men of the village court the girls again, the telephonist manages to make contact with God and passes on his messages to the villagers. In other words, the village comes back to life, the elderly and the sick are rejuvenated and the gravedigger hardly has anything to do. However in the meantime, Augusto’s strength drains. When he dies, the whole village is unsettled: the girls don’t want to any more and the line to the powers on high is continuously engaged. The villagers try to make the musical instrument emit its magical sounds, but the oboe remains silent. The locals realise that they will have to give their own lives meaning and purpose.