via adorocinema.com
One of the most shocking things to come out of this movie for me was the fact of that crisis itself-- such a wild abuse of power, happening such a short time ago, was astounding to me, especially in that the film portrays it so solemnly, with an acceptance of reality. It hammered home to me (not for the first time in my school career) how US-centered my education has been.
Otherwise the film was notable for a few reasons-- it was one of the only films in Portuguese that we watched this semester. And it was one of the few black and white films, which was an artistic decision on the part of Salles and Thomas, I think to hammer home the mystery aspect of the film. Paco, one of the film's main characters, is a young man living in Brazil when his mother dies unexpectedly. Overcome with grief, and drowning in debt due to the economic crisis, he gets involved in a smuggling operation in order to movie back to Portugal, and then Spain, where his mother grew up. Meanwhile, Alex, played by the stunning Fernanda Torres, is a fatalistic woman living in Portugal, having already abandoned Brazil for its lack of opportunity. The two's stories become intertwined by the action of the smugglers' ring that enlists Paco, and the violin filled with jewels he was supposed to deliver.
The decision for black and white, alongside this old-school mystery style filled with murder and betrayal and a hunt for smuggled artifacts-- it all felt like a reference to old noir classics like The Maltese Falcon, though Terra Estrangeira wasn't overcome with melodrama like you might expect out of a film like that. I really appreciated Paco and Alex's relationship through the movie, as it developed at a pace that felt real to me. Coupled with the political intrigue, some stunning cinematography, and very good acting from their leads, this was a very entertaining drama.
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