'Bacurau': Kleiber Mendonça Filho Flips The Arthouse Script With A Sinister, John Carpenter-y Blood Soaked Adventure [Cannes Review]

For his third feature film “Bacurau,” Brazilian filmmaker Kleiber Mendonça Filho splits directorial duties with Juliano Dornelles, the production designer on his first two features. It’s a logical progression for a body of work known for rich soundscapes and vivid imagery, but it’s also a game changer for his style, and the scope of their latest, an ambitious, ultra-violent Western, requires all hands on deck. Adding serious flavor to the Official Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “Bacurau” is the duo’s most political work yet—doubtlessly a response to the recent Brazilian regime of which Mendonça Filho has suffered firsthand. A unique and well-executed blend of genres, it’s also their most playful effort to date.

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The titular Bacurau is an isolated community in central Brazil, so secluded that it can’t be found on a map. Taking place merely “a few years in the future”—as ominous a warning as any—Teresa (Barbara Colen, one of many holdovers from “Aquarius” and serving here as our POV) is making the journey home for the funeral of her grandmother. We soon come to learn that the corrupt local government is depriving the community of water from the local river, something the sleazy mayor tries to disguise with pacifying gifts. Unable to placate the denizens of Bacurau, the government calls in an international hit squad to cleanse the village, fronted by a scenery-chewing Udo Kier. Like any good Western, when the citizens of “Bacurau” are threatened, their lethal potential emerges.

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Mendonça Filho and Dornelles’ aesthetic flourishes are a delight to well-versed cinephile audiences. The use of wipes is particularly pronounced, and are unmistakably an ode to the films of Akira Kurosawa. There are also a number of split diopter shots which allow the extreme foreground and background to be simultaneously in focus; it’s a technique Filho played with in “Aquarius” but employs to a more heightened effect here. Moreover, “Bacurau” moves like a dyed-in-the-wool Western—from the introduction of the principal characters through to its climax—without sacrificing any of its political edges. The narrative provides all the gratification of a community confronting their oppressors, but with a satisfying inversion of the colonial narrative that taints the classical Hollywood Western.

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The entire cast is committed to bringing the filmmakers’ vision to life, and there isn’t a sour performance in the bunch. Eyes are obviously going to gravitate towards the familiar international faces among the ensemble: Sonia Braga’s Dr. Domingas and Kier as the lead antagonist. Braga’s part is smaller than her career-defining turn in “Aquarius,” but reinforces her fearlessness as a performer. Domingas is unflinching, wild and warm in equal measure. Conversely, Kier makes for a wonderful addition to Filho’s established troupe of performers. The directors have a firm grasp on the actor’s quirky presence; comical highlights include his clunky pronunciation of Portuguese names, and a childlike insistence on denying his sadistic trophy kills.

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Not unlike “Mad Max: Fury Road” with its desert wasteland, Filho and Dornelles adroitly navigate the Brazilian rain forest, giving depth and shape to the lush terrain. A world apart from the urbane locals of “Neighboring Sounds” and “Aquarius,” “Bacurau” is nonetheless stunningly shot, with vibrant colors and hot whites selling the tropical climate. The nighttime sequences are just as stylized, with the harsh flashlights creating stunning lens flares.

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Music may not be as foundational to the plot of “Bacurau” as was the case with “Aquarius,” but its use still manages to stir the soul. The local guitar player serves as the chorus of “Bacurau”—think of Jidge Carroll in Samuel Fuller’s “Forty Guns,” always on the cusp of breaking into the theme song. The rest of the music orbits around the three funerals that structure the film. In one highlight, a capoeira dance performance is set to one of John Carpenter’s lost themes, “Night.” The track is yet another square in an homage quilt, but it’s a flavorful choice—going back to the progenitor of the electronic score trend—that captures the synth groove as good as any Cliff Martinez soundtrack.

Brazil has its own history of revisionist Westerns, including Glauber Rocha’s “Antonio das Mortes,” a classic of the Third Cinema movement that operated as an alternative to Hollywood’s cinema hegemony. Although it belongs to this tradition, “Bacurau” is equal parts a political critique and tribute to classic cinema. As with most films that amalgamate genres, and even languages, directors Filho and Dornelles must walk a tonal tightrope from its first frame to its last. There are some false steps; execution is wobbly in the English-language sci-fi tinged passages, which threaten to devolve into parody, and the political dimension, beyond its most universal anti-fascist interpretation, will leave many viewers scratching their heads. There may not be a map for navigating this gonzo film, but nevertheless, “Bacurau” is a blood-soaked adventure worth seeking out. [B]