Recent reviews

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  Twenty Years Later 1984

  Watched 22 Nov 2023

  Part fictionalised true story and part documentary, this extraordinary film sets out to tell the story of João Pedro Teixeira, leader of the Sapé Peasant League in northeast Brazil, murdered on orders from the landowners. Before the film could be completed a right-wing military coup forced the closure of its production and the imprisonment of several members of the crew. Decades later, Coutinho returned to the original film location and using surviving footage alongside interviews with members of the original…

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  Black God, White Devil 1964

  Watched 22 Nov 2023

  One of the most acclaimed and influential Brazilian films ever made, Black God, White Devil (Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol) tells the story of Manoel, a young cowherd who murders a wealthy ranch owner and flees to the drought-ridden hinterlands of northern Brazil with his wife Rosa. Now outlawed, they join a religious cult headed by the mystic self-proclaimed saint Sabastião, who condones acts of violence. The couple are plunged into a moral dilemma between embracing religious…