Bacurau (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Wednesday, April 01

NR Running Time: 131 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Bacurau is a wild ride and unlike any movie to come out in recent memory.

  • A full service menu of a movie with topical political commentary, escalating scenes of violence, dark humor and a devil-could-care attitude.

  • It’s 2020 and we have a movie with both Udo Kier and Sonia Braga in prominent roles. If for no other reason…

NO

  • Not really for the squeamish… unflinching scenes of violence will prove unsettling to some viewers.

  • Some may find Bacurau inconsistent in tone and feel, the various themes and ideas discordant and too far-ranging to come together cohesively.

  • Even patient viewers may find this good in parts, but disappointing as a whole.


OUR REVIEW

When you are not quite sure which movie to make, sometimes it proves beneficial to make “all the movie,” which is perhaps an inarticulate, but apt description of the densely layered and sensational Bacurau.

Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, Bacurau is a wild, careening commentary on modern-day Brazilian politics, tribal mentality, a sense of erasure, the concept of “otherness,” and more than a number of references to the Sam Peckinpah-style Westerns of decades past.

And this does not even begin to mention a mysterious drone, a roving gang of hunters, and the quilombo where Mendonça Filho and Dornelles’ film takes place.

In terms of reality, Bacurau, as a location, does not exist. The settlement, for purposes of our narrative, is seemingly being erased from maps in real time and suddenly residents are losing cell service. All of this transpires in the midst of celebrating the life of the community’s matriarch, who recently passed away at the age of 94. Teresa (Bárbara Colen), the woman’s granddaughter, is returning home at the beginning of the film and initially, it appears she will be our main focus.

Once home, she reconnects with Pacote (Thomas Aquino), and is welcomed back with open arms from a diverse and eclectic community. Quickly, we realize other outsiders are held to far more scrutiny. This includes the boorish Tony, Jr. (Thardelly Lima), the local mayor whose LCD-screen covered tour bus is met with disinterest, anger, and frustration.

Eventually, the community starts to experience a series of strange situations. A water truck, crucial to life in the settlement, springs three leaks, water pouring out as a result of three bullet holes. Two motorcyclists appear seemingly out of nowhere and arrive into town for a brief respite and a couple of drinks at a local bar. A villager sees a drone flying overhead. And if we recall the film’s opening moments, a tragic accident has taken the life of a driver, while large wooden coffins are strewn along the highway.

Not only are all these seemingly random plot points important to the mysteries of Bacurau, but the film gleefully veers off into wildly different directions as it glides into the formation of a violent, blood-soaked thriller.

Teresa provides our entry point, not only to the story, but also to the village where the film will largely take place. Mendonça Filho and Dornelles take their time to allow us to become familiar with our surroundings before ratcheting up a number of narrative surprises, all of which leave us laughing uncomfortably at times, cringing at sudden stabs of graphic violence in other moments, and mesmerized by all unfolding before us.

If Bacurau feels too long at 131 minutes, and it is, Mendonça Filho, co-directing with his long-time production designer Dornelles, may get a bit bogged down in the political undercurrents and commentary that defines much of what we see on screen. When a roving group of American hunters, led by the incomparable (notably non-American) Udo Kier, make their intentions known, the film becomes a brutal cat-and-mouse game where no one can be trusted, except the villagers who will band together and defend their legacy and heritage each and every way they can.

For some viewers, this will be a lot of movie for folks to endure. The graphic nature of the violence only intensifies. However, this is also an oddly satisfying film about an uprising, and a rebelliousness about not being erased. The people of Bacurau, mythical though they are, defend their existence and refuse to allow themselves to be forgotten. As a result, it becomes easy to root for them and cheer them on.

Some will find the characterizations comical and the film’s themes hitting too squarely on-the-nose. Others will be amazed at the bold and brash nature of the storytelling. Bacurau is a jolt of an experience, at home or in a theater, and unlike any movie you have likely experienced in quite some time.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Bárbara Colen, Thomas Aquino, Sônia Braga, Udo Kier, Thardelly Lima, Silvero Pereira, Wilson Rabelo, Rubens Santos, Carlos Francisco, Karine Teles, Antonio Saboia, Jonny Mars, Alli Willow, James Turpin, Julia Marie Peterson, Brian Townes, Charles Hodges, Chris Doubek.

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
Written by: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
Release Date: March 6, 2020
Kino Lorber