Starring: ose Dumont, Rodrigo Santoro
Director: Walter Salles
Rated: M15+
(Portuguese with English subtitles
If you were lucky enough to see Central Station last year then you might enjoy Behind the Sun from the same director.
The Breues and Portes families have been fighting over land for four generations. They have paid in blood. At least one son in each generation has been sacrificed for the family honour in this cycle of murderous payback.
When the eldest Breues boy is gunned down, it falls to Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro) to exact vengeance. Tonho wants this killing to be the last. When he and his younger brother Pacu (Ravi Ramos Lacerda) meet up with a circus, a window of opportunity opens up for both of them to escape the deadly expectations of their families. But who can escape?
Walter Salles has one of the keenest cinemagraphic eyes in the business. His inventive camera angles, exotic locations, stunning lighting and assured editing are pure artistry.
Behind the Sun is what St Augustine would have called ‘lust for the eyes’. The issue of fighting over land and how it can lead to death down the generations is a telling commentary on many parts of the world.
Though not as emotionally powerful as Central Station, this slow, languid film finds beauty in the midst of the ugly face of revenge and pride, and offers a way out. If only those of us caught up in similar struggles realised we always have choices in these situations as well.
