User Reviews

This movie was shown today as part of the Toronto Brazilian Film Fest. It tells the story of the discovery of the first gold nugget by the farmer Genésio da Silva in 1979 at the Serra Pelada (Bald Mountain) and the eventual gold rush that dominated the area. The film interviews a complete cross section of people who participated in this unique Brazilian adventure, from the various Garimpeiros that made it big with mammoth hauls of literally Kg of gold, to executives from various Brazilian government ministries and mining companies to news reporters. We see original film footage of the working day life of the miners. The shots really have the feel of a Cecil B. DeMille biblical movie, Moses trampling straw to make clay. The other side of the story is explained in that the miners or Garimpeiros each had a fair plot to work on, and although the work was hard and dirty, they got paid huge sums if they struck it rich. The gold was sold to the government directly and it was so rich that it was melted down on the spot. A fascinating portrayal of a major event in the life of North Eastern Brazil. The area is finally sold to a consortium of organizations, one of which is a mining company from Canada. Who knows what the future holds. As with all adventurers, with great gains also come great losses.

Anthropological, psychological and political documentary about the gold rush in Serra Pelada during military dictatorship and the following developments and changes in prospecting life during Collor neo-liberal government and in the first decade of XXIst century. There is an amazing footage (from the past and from nowadays) and quite interesting testimonies, often nearly unbelievable, ranging from hilarious to hideous (among the latter, I may highlight both Sebastião Curió and former president of hateful Vale do Rio Doce Eliezer Batista). Curió is a core character in this story, due his role in the management of the mine (with torture and military discipline included), his relations with dictator Figueiredo, and his political and economic movements after the end of dictatorship, including becoming mayor of the then recently founded town of Curionópolis (he has been afterwards condemned by vote buying and corruption). Raimunda Conceição, a woman who has been a prospector, also gives some of the most interesting interviews on what happened those times, besides one of the most hilarious moments in the film. His husband, Índio, was the first and most times shown interviewee in the film, and indeed he fits the insertion of several elements addressed throughout the documentary. Union activist Etevaldo Arantes shows himself as a very qualified analyst, who helps us a lot to understand the core issues related to Serra Pelada. While in the beginning spectator listens a fragment of a propaganda video telling that there was no crime and no conflict in Serra Pelada despite all that gold and money, in the rest of the documentary we watch scenes or listen stories about several situations of extreme violence, either between prospector or against them by the army, by hired gunslingers, by military police, and so far. This is a well made and important documentary, that provides rich elements for thinking about capitalism, life goals, Brazilian history, hope, frustration, and the destruction of nature for shallow greed.

Every single detail in the story is fascinating. In the middle of nowhere, a couple of farmers find gold in a precious mountain and, suddenly, thousands of people from all over the country start a crazy rush to get rich as much as they can, using their own hands. All of it happening during a dictatorship.

The entire film consists of interviews in Portuguese, with subtitles seemingly translated by a non-native English speaker, and archival footage sprinkled in. Although the producers did a good job weaving the interviews into chronological order, the complete lack of narration, or any explicit context (besides year numbers on the screen), makes this film exceedingly hard to follow. Save your time and find another video or article to learn about Serra Pelada.