Black God, White Devil DVD, 1964

aka Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

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MovieMail's Review

Set in the drought-plagued Sertão in the 1940s, Glauber Rocha’s feature debut is not only the key work of the Brazilian Cinema Novo, but also one of the great films of 1960s world cinema, more than deserving of mention with the great European films from the same period. It tells of a peasant couple, Manuel and Rosa, who become involved with both a messianic religious leader (the Black God) and a bandit (the White Devil). The film is an epic, highly-stylised filmic folk ballad made all the more remarkable by the fact that Rocha was only 25 at the time of production, which is rooted in his ‘aesthetics of hunger’ that proclaimed ‘violence is the normal behaviour of the starving ... the moment of violence is the moment when the coloniser becomes aware of the colonised.’ His approach – an often theatrical mise en scène and abrupt, jagged editing technique – invites comparison not only with the work of Godard but also Pasolini and early Fassbinder. Buñuel called the film ‘the most beautiful thing I have seen in over a decade, filled with savage poetry.’

Pasquale Iannone on 7th October 2008
View all 52 of Pasquale Iannone's reviews

Film Information

Director - Glauber Rocha

Produced - 1964

Main Language - Portuguese with English subtitles

Countries & Regions - South American Film

Cast - Geraldo Del Rey, Mauricio do Valle

DVD Details

Certificate:	18	Publisher:	Mr Bongo	Region:	2
Length:	120 mins	Cat No:	MRBDVD010
Format:	DVD B&W	Subtitles:	English

Film Description

Widely considered to be the greatest Brazilian film of all time, Black God, White Devil influenced such major filmmakers as Martin Scorsese and Sergio Leone and is Glauber Rocha’s finest and most moving work.

An epic and moving work, Black God, White Devil blends mysticism, religion and popular culture into a powerful, bleak and cruel epic that unashamedly expresses its frustration with many of the major institutions of Brazilian life – government, Church and corrupt landowners.

Set in the 1940s, the picture follows Manuel, who kills his employer after he tries to cheat him of his wages. From then on Manuel and his wife, Rosa, move around the country, robbing and killing as they go, listening to the words of religious mystics and self-proclaimed saints as try to find their place in a ruthless land of corruption, anguish and violence.

What makes this film all the more remarkable is the fact that director Glauber Rocha was only 25 years old when he wrote and began filming this masterwork, a film which cries out for man to determine his own path. The picture was nominated for the 1964 Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and is considered to be a seminal piece of the Brazilian Cinema Novo movement.

“The most beautiful thing I have seen in more than a decade, filled with savage poetry” - Luis Bunuel.