Once again, the Criterion Channel delivers. Tucked away in a collection dedicated to Academy Award nominated films and directors, I found three films by Kleber Mendonca Filho. I watched the 2019 film Bacurau (which Mendonca co-directed with Juliano Dornelles). Somehow, once again I blame my criminally limited Hoosier education, I had never seen the film nor heard of the director. Shameful. I described the film, which I loved, as one part Gabriel Garcia Marquez and one part Hostel and one part John Carpenter. It was riveting, at times funny and endearing and frightening, and also subversive as well. It's set in the small town of Bacurau in the backwaters of Brazil, and the strange series of events that occur after the death of Carmelita, the town's matriarch. There are wonderful performances from Barbara Colen (as Teresa, Carmelita's granddaughter, who was supposed to be back to the village for the funeral), Thomas Aquino (as Pacote, Teresa's ex-lover and a leader in the village), and Silvero Pereria (as Lunga, a local revolutionary) - along with Sonia Braga (as Domingas, a local doctor, who, when she's not drinking, is very friendly) and Udo Keir (as Michael, in a very villainous role, even by Udo Keir standards). It's very much a commentary on colonialism, but also on the Brazilian politicians who happily support it for a price. Highly recommended.
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