Sônia Braga confronts Udo Kier in a scene from Bacurau.
LOS ANGELES, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 4/22/2020 – “Migraine, nausea, feeling like death,” says a young woman describing her symptoms to Domingas, the physician in Bacurau. “That’s a hangover,” replies the doctor with just enough gravitas to spare the feelings of her patient and yet with precise comedic deadpan delivery courtesy of Sônia Braga.
Domingas is more than a physician in this movie about a town under attack from both inside and outside forces; she is a protector as well. And Bacurau is very much a town in need of protection.
The mayor of Bacurau is Tony Junior (Thardelly Lima). He is the kind of politician who showers his town with ripped up books, rotting food, boxes of addictive medications and coffins, (yes coffins), while stalling delivery of the one thing that his people really need: water. Fortunately, Domingas is there to expose the toxicity of the medicines before throwing them all in the trash.
The corruption of the mayor and the fact that Bacurau is located in a rather desolate part of Brazil, far from the world-renowned beaches of that country, make the town ripe for exploitation. Even worse, there comes the day when Bacurau mysteriously no longer shows up on Google maps. It’s as though the town no longer exists.
The fate of Bacurau takes a deadly twist with the arrival of two outsiders introduced as João (Antonio Saboia) and Maria (Karine Telles), who literally cruise into town on their motorbikes. Although they claim to be “just out for a ride,” their arrival in Bacurau is by design. During their visit, Maria installs a device under the table of a grocery store that we later learn serves to jam cell phone signals. And soon, the two set in motion a chain of events that threatens the very existence of the townspeople.
Bacurau doesn’t shy away from addressing the long-standing racial tensions that exist in Brazil. Tensions that undoubtedly propelled the current president to victory just last year. The writing and directing team of Juliano Dornelles and Kieber Mendonca have set their fictional town in the northern part of the country on the site of a former African slave colony. This history is reflected in the ethnic appearance of the people of Bacurau. João and Maria are from the southern part of Brazil and they are white in appearance-a fact hilariously noted in a risqué ballad sung by the only man in Bacurau old enough and crazy enough to get away with poking fun at the visitors.
Joåo and Maria can afford to laugh at jokes made at their expense because they know one thing that the people of Bacurau don’t: They have taken the final step necessary in making the town truly and dangerously off the grid.
Their mission complete, the bikers leave to report back to their base camp where we are introduced to a dangerous collective of people who find killing to be fun. They are mostly born and raised Americans except for their leader, Michael, who is played to chilling perfection by German cult legend, Udo Kier.
While at base, footage from the drone that hovers constantly over the town, reveals that the two killed a few of the locals. This enrages Michael as his “team” is actually competing amongst each other to see who can off the greatest number of people in Bacurau. “You came here to work for us, not to take our kills,” explains Julia. (Julia Marie Peterson)
The issue of race resurfaces when Michael calls Maria and João out for killing their countryman, which in his eyes, makes them actual murderers. The couple responds by noting that they come from the more European part of Brazil, far from Bacurau. The richer part where there are Italian and German settlements. This triggers a cringe inducing study of the two bikers. It is decided that they are not as “white white” as the group that they thought they were a part of. Apparently, João looks like a “white Mexican” and although Maria has very white skin, her nose and mouth “give her away.”
The people of Bacurau.
It is also decided that João and Maria have turned out to be more trouble than they are worth and are dealt with accordingly. With the two bikers out of the way, the group set their sights on the people of Bacurau. In doing so, there really are no limits to the sinister deadly game that Michael and his people insist on playing. Men, women and even children are fair game. The drone that had been watching this town for some time, the jammed cell phone signals and being cut off from the main roads, are finally revealed to be leading up to just this moment.
What the mercenaries fail to understand is that the people of Bacurau are unlike any other that they could have imagined. Everyone has value. Children are cherished, the elderly are revered, and the community of transvestites who serve to be the lookouts when outsiders venture into town, prove to be some of the town’s most ferocious defenders.
This community has been under attack before and they will not go down without a fight. The final showdown will be memorable. Just as memorable as when Domingas alone by herself comes face to face with Michael in the outskirts of Bacurau. Her boldness when confronting him with the insanity of his game may not be enough to make him stop the killing. However, it is enough to make him turn around and gaze at her in wonder as he leaves to set in motion the fate of Bacurau and his own.
In Bacurau, Juliano Dornelles and Kieber Mendonca have created a film with characters whose complexities disallow stereotypes. Visually, cinematographer Pedro Sotero’s generous use of close-ups and wide shots evoke the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, worthy of a story dealing with a battle between good and evil. Fast paced and fused with a dose of South American magic realism, Bacurau entertains while delivering an insightful commentary on the state of Brazil’s past and present.
You can watch the trailer to Bacurau right here.
Kino Marquee is presenting virtual screenings of Bacurau to support your local movie theaters in response to the Covid 19 emergency. Click link to access screening of this film and support a theater near you.
Bacurau
Running Time: 132 minutes
In Portuguese and English with English subtitles
Cast
Barbara Colen Teresa
Sônia Braga Domingas
Udo Kier Michael
Thomas Aquino Pacote
Silvero Pereira Lunga
Director
Kieber Mendonca Filho
Juliano Dornelles
Writer
Kieber Mendonca Filho
Juliano Dornelles
Cinematographer
Pedro Sotero
Editor
Eduardo Serrano
Composer
Mateus Alves
Tomaz Alves de Souza
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