“Gold ruins everything. First the land, then the man.” That’s the gist of Marcelo Gomes’ ambitious historical epic, set in 18th-century Brazil when the South American colony’s people and resources were being exploited under Portuguese oppression. A fictional tale partly based on the life of leading Brazilian separatist Tiradentes (real name Joaquim José da Silva Xavier), Gomes’ film aims to keep the spirit rather than adhere to true events of his nascent independence movement. It’s more a reflection on how inequality and oppression so endemic in colonial times continue into today’s Brazil.
Joaquim (Julio Machado, a rugged Hugh Jackman look-a-like) is a soldier serving the Portuguese crown, catching smugglers in a part of Brazil whose formerly rich supply of gold is running dry. His poor upbringing is still better than the slaves and “indians” who work under him, with whom he gets on better than many of his Portuguese peers.
Joaquim (Julio Machado, a rugged Hugh Jackman look-a-like) is a soldier serving the Portuguese crown, catching smugglers in a part of Brazil whose formerly rich supply of gold is running dry. His poor upbringing is still better than the slaves and “indians” who work under him, with whom he gets on better than many of his Portuguese peers.
- 2/17/2017
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
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