Wagner Moura is one of the latest actors (and directors, as he says) to step into The Criterion Closet. Moura’s selection is pretty interesting and beautifully patriotic, revealing his affection for Brazilian cinema and the obvious inspiration for becoming an actor. He chooses five movies and a movie collection which has some Brazilian gems, resulting in six or seven very intriguing and compelling choices.
You have likely not heard of most of the films Moura picks during his time in The Criterion Closet, but this is the real beauty of such videos. We learn new things with each new movie pick, not just about the taste of the person picking them, but about the films themselves. With Moura, the conclusion is that he likes realistic films about everyday life; if you find yourself relating to that, here are the six great movies recommended by Wagner Moura from the Criterion Collection.
1
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 2 and No. 3
Martin Scorsese‘s World Cinema Project is a collection of international movies selected by the director. He founded the project in 2007 together with The Film Foundation, and their aim is to preserve and restore forgotten gems of world cinema. Some of the movies in the collection were thought to have been lost for good, while others are classics that used to be available only locally, giving worldwide cinephiles a chance to watch some international masterpieces. Moura chooses the collections No. 2 and No. 3, both containing classic Brazilian films; he even exclaims, after seeing the selection, “Scorsese knows his stuff.”
One of the Brazilian movies restored in these two collections is Pixote from 1980, by Héctor Babenco. Moura said that he likes movies about the working class, and Pixote is one of the representatives of that kind of storytelling. Pixote was filmed in a documentary-style, taking inspiration from Italian neorealism, and follows the story of a 10-year-old boy named Pixote (Fernando Ramos da Silva), documenting his journey from surviving a juvenile reformatory school to landing in the streets, running with gangsters and pimps. It’s a tragic story of an upbringing that no child should live through, yet seems realistic for many places across the world.
The other Brazilian movie that was restored is Limite from 1931, directed and written by Mário Peixoto. Peixoto made this film from his own funds and tried to push it forward, but contemporary audiences weren’t feeling it; it’s quite artistic and meditative, though it is a psychological thriller/drama at its core. Limite is about three people stranded on a boat, reminiscing about their lives and the circumstances that brought them there. The restoration is beautiful and the frames and pacing are the envy of modern arthouse filmmakers, with modern critics calling it the most important Brazilian film ever made.
2
‘The Sound of Trumpets’ (‘Il Posto,’ 1961)
Il Posto is an Italian classic that isn’t widely known, but is, as Moura describes it, a mirror into the political and social structure of Italy at the time. This is another choice of film about the working class, but shown from the perspective of a naive man, driven by the desire to meet people, feel less alone, and grow into a capable worker. The movie embraces the growing alienation of corporate work and personal focus, shining a light on socialization as the brightest point of the film; it’s mostly a personalized view of the postwar industry boom, filmed from a uniquely Italian perspective. Il Posto translates directly as “The Job,” but the official English translation is The Sound of Trumpets, and the film was directed by Ermanno Olmi.
Il Posto follows Domenico (Sandro Panseri), a young man who decides to drop out of school to financially support his family; he goes for a job interview at a corporation in Milan, undergoing a series of tests and questionnaires. During this time, Domenico meets another job candidate, Antonietta (Loredana Detto), and tries to spend more time with her. Il Posto is quite a beautiful view of the working class, with Olmi notably observing them through a loving lens; he records intimate portraits of the workers and Domenico, showing the mundanity of daily life with romanticism and affection. There’s rarely been an Italian filmmaker who didn’t embrace grandiosity like this, which is why Olmi and Il Posto rank among the more underrated features of Italian cinema and the 20th century. Moura chooses this film because he finds the depictions of mundanity through Domenico’s eyes quite beautiful, and he’s right.
3
‘Rosetta’ (1999)
Rosetta is one of the best realistic masterpieces of European (precisely Belgian) cinema, just as Moura introduces it in the video. Rosetta was written and directed by the Dardenne Brothers, for whom the actor expresses an unconditional affection; Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are known for their portrayals of working-class people, struggling in their own ways in growing up, adapting, and surviving. Most of their subjects are, however, young people—children and teens going through life in the only ways they know how to. The interesting part about The Dardennes is their choice of actors, as they’re all inexperienced kids who act like fully trained professionals. Their films are notably called “naturalistic,” focusing on the lives of those on the margins in Belguim.
Rosetta follows the titular character, a teenage girl named Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne), who lives with her alcoholic mother in a trailer. Rosetta tries to get out of her circumstances by finding a job and earning enough money, but her opportunities are limited as she’s a minor, uneducated, and constantly fighting through her life’s own circumstances. Rosetta was the first Belgian film to win a Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the first of two movies by the Dardennes to earn that accolade. It’s a pretty heavy film because of the struggles this young girl goes through, but a great entry point into the grips of European realism. Moura cites the Dardennes as his “favorite filmmakers in the world” because of how well they represent young people’s voices, and compares their handheld filming style with the Brazilian Cinema Novo movement from the 1960s, when handheld footage was the primary filmmaking method.
4
‘The Kid with a Bike’ (‘Le Gamin au Vélo,’ 2011)
Another feature by The Dardennes is The Kid with a Bike, and though this one didn’t get any particular awards, it’s a beautiful movie that feels a lot more inspired by life and some of its more beautiful parts, despite a very tragic story being its central plot. The movie remains in the naturalistic style that the director duo applies to all their films, but this one uniquely features original music and fairy tale inspiration. They explained their use of music by saying that it serves as a gentle support for the protagonist, the little boy, and with a fairly happy ending and a spiritual transformation, the movie steers away from the usual darkness of the Dardenne realism and naturalism. Moura holds the DVD in his hand, wondering just how the directors succeeded in getting the massive acting chops out of these young actors.
The Kid With a Bike follows Cyril (Thomas Doret), a 12-year-old boy whose father leaves him in a children’s home, promising to return after a month. Since Cyril’s father doesn’t come back, he escapes the home and visits his old apartment, finding it abandoned. After encountering a woman, Samantha (Cécile de France), she takes pity on Cyril and takes him into her home, feeling a bond that allows him to have a new home. The story follows Cyril’s journey through accepting his father’s absence, his newfound home with Samantha, and his own emotions, which are strong and often unpredictable. Through the eyes of a boy struggling to face the truth comes a story of resilience and emotional revelations; this is why The Kid With a Bike is a wonderful film, making it understandable why Moura, a fan of realism, as it seems, loves the Dardenne Brothers so much.
5
‘Memories of Underdevelopment’ (‘Memorias del Subdesarrollo’, 1968)
Memories of Underdevelopment is a Cuban film from 1968 that Moura fondly describes as beautifully shot, philosophical, and unique in capturing a specific moment in history. The film is set just after the Cuban Revolution and interspersed with real footage of protests and political events, covered by the protagonist’s narration to introduce people to the realities of the Revolution and its aftermath and consequences. The movie successfully encompasses the feeling of “you had to be there,” although it’s subjective and highly personal for the director. Speaking of the director, Memories of Underdevelopment was written and directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, who directed over 20 features during his career, and all have reflected on the Cuban Revolution in some respects. He’s a representative of the New Latin American Cinema movement that became popular during the 1960s and 1970s; Gutiérrez Alea was born, lived, and died in Havana.
Memories of Underdevelopment is set just after the Cuban Revolution, which lasted between 1953 and 1959, and it was based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes of the same name (in Spanish); it follows a Cuban intellectual, Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), as he chooses to stay in Cuba while everyone else flees to Miami. Through his eyes, the aftermath of the Revolution is just one of the topics; a lot of the footage reminisces on the moments and events during the Revolution, and his opinions and views of Cuba before, during, and after it. Memories of Underdevelopment is Gutiérrez Alea’s most famous film outside of Cuba, but when he was supposed to collect the awards he received for it in the US, he was banned from entering. It’s also widely considered to be one of the rare films better than the novel they were based on.
6
‘Black God, White Devil’ (‘Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol,’ 1964)
The first movie Wagner Moura picks out of the collection is also the movie he claims blew people’s minds in Brazil when it came out. The movie in question is Black God, White Devil, known originally as Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol, and Moura claims it to be one of the most important Brazilian films of all time. Black God, White Devil is a revisionist Western directed by the legendary Brazilian filmmaker, Glauber Rocha, who was a prominent figure during the Cinema Novo movement in the 1960s, which Moura mentions when speaking about handheld camera footage. Naturally, as part of Cinema Novo, Rocha was a proponent of realism in his films, often tackling socio-political issues of the time through visually beautiful imagery and framing. Black God, White Devil is an interesting blend of uniquely Brazilian themes, focusing on a more personal experience of life at the time, but its filmmaking qualities are obviously inspired by European filmmakers of the time, and some American Westerns.
Black God, White Devil follows ranch hand Manoel (Geraldo Del Rey), who kills his boss after he avoids paying him, forcing him and his wife Rosa (Yoná Magalhães) to go on the run. Manoel and Rosa join several groups during the course of the movie in order to try and survive, but the groups they join are hunted by dangerous assassins, and they have to protect each other. The desolate landscape breathes full of life with each frame, as the story goes further and gets shaped into social commentary; following the couple’s struggle to keep hope alive, it reflects on the emotional desolation of increasingly ruthless capitalistic times, which are now in full swing.
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