The Given Word

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Vitor O The first and only Brazilian film to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this is, to this day, an excellent example of Brazilian neorealism and one of the greatest achievements of Brazilian cinema. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/19/25 Full Review Sophia L O filme completou 61 anos esse ano (2023) e só mostra o quanto não evoluímos no quesito tolerância religiosa. Filme simples e sensacional! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/21/23 Full Review William L A great piece of world cinema in that it allowed me, as someone unfamiliar with the nuances of Brazilian culture, to see internationally relevant themes played out using specific circumstances and relationships of an environment that was foreign to me. Any number of directors had touched on crises of faith and discord in religious truth prior to Duarte, but he places it in a compelling setting that takes advantage of his surroundings, with Villar's Zé set upon carrying out a deed of objective charity only to find himself cast out, then used as a pawn in a larger, simmering conflict between the ordered, unforgiving Catholic church, the Candomblé, political and social activists, and a series of opportunists simply seeking to take advantage of his circumstances; none of them care for Zé or his task, but only see him in the context of their own betterment. There's plenty of universality in the film (the faith v. church themes immediately bring to mind Bergman or Buñuel), capturing a potent and broadly applicable mix of culture clash, dynamic social change, and boiling tensions without the need for wide-angle cinematography or large-scale production value. Zé's pain is a particularly distressing one, as he is completely convinced of the purity of his task, only to be rebuffed on a technicality that supposedly renders him a heathen, and is subsequently miscast as a symbol rather than an individual, left adrift in a sea of people without a single one to actually listen to him. One of relatively few Brazilian films to reach the status of truly internationally acclaimed, but a world classic. Now if only it were actually moderately accessible to stream... The film is intense, but it's hard for me to ignore that the plot very roughly traces a sincere take on the plot of Life of Brian ("He is the Messiah!"/"I'm not the Messiah!"). (4.5/5) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/15/21 Full Review Audience Member É o meu filme favorito. Para mim esse filme supera os melhores dos melhores. Uma história simplesmente linda e (infelizmente) continua atual. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Um dos melhores filmes brasileiros de todos os tempos, se não o melhor! Fascinante! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Given Word

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