Back in March, with the pandemic shutting down theaters worldwide, 2020 was guaranteed to have at least one indisputably great movie released in its calendar. Regardless of how many films were released, “Bacurau,” which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, was definitely going to make the top 10 lists of more than a few critics — it has most certainly landed a spot on mine (being published this week).
Cannes Jury Prize winner, “Bacurau,” which was directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, is a perplexing mix of magical surrealism and grindhouse. The film catches many off-guard in its first 20 minutes before it transports audiences into a cinematic adventure like no other. On its surface, the film is a thriller, but one filled with indelible artistry and breathtaking cinematic luxury.
Set “a few years from now” in the imagined Brazilian town of Bacurau, the first act sets up a place so unknown that the locals can’t even seem to pinpoint it on a map when trying to teach local kids where they come from. A filmmaker decides to travel to the village to make a documentary, and, as days go by, he begins to discover that the locals are not exactly what they appear to be, as they hide some truly dangerous secrets.
“Bacurau” hooks the audience the same way grindhouse fare does, such as “I Spit in Your Grave” and “Hostel.” But, of course, the filmmaking in “Bacurau” is what allows the film to transcend over its schlocky competition. It sings with blossoming camerawork and the kind of spiritual elegance not found in many “midnight” films.
This hybrid of genre and arthouse is another worthy addition to Kleber Mendonça Filho’s ever-evolving oeuvre of films which includes 2012’s “Neighbouring Sounds” and 2016’s stunning Cannes winner “Aquarius.” I spoke to the director about the politics behind the film, the influence of ’80s genre movies, and if he would ever want to transition to American filmmaking.
Bacurau, the town in Brazil, along with the landscape and the river, feels very specific in your film.
The region is a state of mind but it also felt very geographic in terms of culture, politics, geography, literature, and people. We felt very close to it, we have many friends that come from this town, so we know about the food and about the music. We have been there many times. So once we decided “Bacurau” would be set in this town it freed us in many ways. One of the ways was thinking in terms of a western because it photographs really well, it’s quite beautiful and specific. It’s also part of the iconography of Brazilian cinema, particularly from the ‘60s. And, of course, you’re talking to two cinephiles who love American films from the 1970s.
We also thought about the classic westerns from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s where the Indians were presented as the invaders, the villains, the bad people and that’s changed somewhat in the ’60s and ’70s because of the revisionist westerns. All of that came into making this film, but we just really wanted to make a film in this region. We’re lucky in that the reactions to the film in Brazil have been very good, all over Brazil, but particularly the Northeast where we come from very moving reactions, it’s not just being excited but people are moved by the way we portray the region and particularly the faces that are in the film.
There’s a lot of political and social subtext to this movie but it also delves deeply into genre cinema.
We had the embryonic idea for “Bacurau” in 2009. We wanted to make a film about people who are not being represented enough in Brazil and when they are represented it’s in very unfair ways. Whenever they have been represented in Brazilian TV or cinema it was more a case of, “Oh, look at how exotic these people are, how simple they are,” and we do not agree with that, it’s wrong.
Every human being is complex and we wanted to do something about it. Of course, we had this long time wish to make a genre film. A fun film that we could enjoy making and writing. Again, we were very inspired by the American films of the ‘70s, and even the Spaghetti westerns and the films from Australia especially George Miller. For us, it was always a very interesting opportunity and a good idea to have very honest and realistic characters but within a genre cinema that is very far away from our country. We always dreamed of using Panavision and here we could do that. We just rented those lenses and brought them from Los Angeles to make this film. These are all the very different energies we used to put together this film.
It is a very exciting time for genre fans. It felt like half the competition titles at the last Cannes Film Festival could fall into that category.
I think this embracing of genre cinema comes from this new generation. Bong Joon Ho is my age, it basically means we saw the same things. I saw “Poltergeist” when I was 13 years old, I was alive and going to the cinema in the summer of 1982, which probably had the best genre cinemas ever made from “The Thing” to “Tron” to “Blade Runner” to “Poltergeist” to “Mad Max 2” to ‘Videodrome” and that had an effect on my psyche [laughs]. And now, this generation is making their own films. It’s only natural that genre keeps coming up in the most unexpected places. When I saw “Parasite,” it felt like Bong was talking the same language as me, in fact, I feel like “Bacurau” and “Parasite” are cousins [laughs].
We’ve also seen lots of foreign directors make the transition to American cinema. Do you have any desire to follow along those footsteps?
I can fall in love with any new project, which I develop. Of course, finding the right project is very tough, especially if you want to make extremely personal films. I think “Bacurau” is a genre exercise, but every centimeter of it is a personal film. It has some ideas which come from classic cinema and it has many ideas which come from our desire to make a film. The interesting thing about the Mexican filmmakers like Inarritu and Cuaron, is that they did not sacrifice their artistry. The films they made stayed true to who they were as directors but, at the same time, in terms of the market and industry, they are moneymakers and prestigious films. But yeah, I’m very much open in developing new ideas and new scripts but they would have to be my films, they could never be somebody’s else’s.
How does “Bacurau” compare to what’s happening right now in Brazil?
I think of “Bacurau” as a history film, even if, ironically, we set the film in the future. But we did think a lot about Genghis Kahn, the war in Bosnia, and the Vietnam war. Basically, the human condition, humankind, being violent towards each other, you know, it’s the history of the world [laughs]. Everywhere we go, it seems like audiences make their own interpretation of this film. Right now, in Rio de Janeiro, there is a far-right governor, democratically elected, and he actually believes that extreme violence is acceptable in poor communities and collateral damage is acceptable in poor communities (favelas) which means you get helicopters which snipers flying around the whole community, and everybody is hiding inside the house or under their beds because they know there is a sniper ready to hit or shoot at anything that looks “suspicious.” If it rains you can’t even come out of your house with an umbrella because they will think you are holding a gun and shoot you.
However, in a rich neighborhood in Brazil, you can walk out with a rifle and people will mistake it for an umbrella. Then you make a film like “Bacurau” and it all explodes, it’s like a mindfuck that’s happening right now in the country, they can’t accept the fact that the film depicts Brazil in a crazy, dystopic way which, in fact, is reality. That’s the kind of reaction we are getting in Brazil. It’s just an unbelievable film to see at this time, which makes it both exciting and scary and necessary.
So this film is what you would deem dangerous to the powers-that-be in Brazil?
The film is dangerous because every society has a hierarchy and the film does not seem to respect social hierarchy and that is very dangerous to them. People in the lower echelons of society are being told to understand that they come from the lower aspects of society, if that doesn’t happen then we have chaos [laughs].
“Bacurau” is now available on VOD and streaming services