Bacurau

'Bacurau' had a special vibe even from the beginning, as it makes the audience wonder "what on Earth is happening in this place". From then on the viewer is ensnared and has no chance but to follow the story until the end in this suspenseful dark-humoured western drama (with a hint of near future science fiction?).

 

The action takes place in Bacurau, which is Portuguese for "nightjar", a bird of prey. The water supply of the small locality has been cut off and accessing the streets linking it to the rest of Brazil is not so easy either. Strange things start happening around Bacurau and the tightly-knit community has to defend itself when locals from a nearby farm are shot and a couple of suspicious motorists clad in bright clothes appear. It's a mind-boggling crazy story that manages to bring together politics, cultural survival, psychotropic drugs and naked weapon-shooting in a perfectly credible melange.

 

Empowering a community and bringing the attention to a community that refuses to disappear from the map seemed to be crucial pillars for directors Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho, as the later says "The whole idea of culture is being deconstructed or destroyed by the Brazilian government."

 

A gripping watch that is shocking, surprising and somehow uplifting.