Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (1964)

Third viewing, probably; last previous viewing: March 28, 1990; I have probably first viewed it between 1983 and 1986.

U.S. title (release): Black God, White Devil.
U.S. title (literal translation): God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun.

A poor cowhand kills his employer and then seeks refuge first among a sect of fanatics, then among an outlaw rural gang.

A study of the social situation in the arid lands of Northeastern Brazil. Often praised for being formally innovative, it is actually rather conventionally staged as a theater play with outdoor settings, filmed with a freer than usual camera. The diretor (and/or perhaps the cinematographer) has a keen eye for striking compositions, especially in the first half of the movie, which lend it a certain aestheticist flavor. The slowness of it all has certainly exasperated numerous viewers, but it is part of a coherent style. There is a thematic intersection with Vereda da Salvação, released in the following year, and a superior film if my assessment was correct at the time I viewed it.

Rating: 58 (unchanged)

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980)

Some members of the Peanuts gang go to Europe on a student exchange program. Their destination is France, but they pass through England. Patty and Marcy stay with a farmer boy, and Charlie and Linus (plus the dog and the bird) are to stay in a castle but initially don't find anyone home. It turns out that the castle's owner is a misanthrope. There is a mystery surrounding Charlie's invitation, which is unfolded gradually.

I didn't exactly rave over this movie, although it was adequate for a relaxing time. The actual mystery plot is not devoid of ingenuity, too. My favorite moment was probably the sequence at school when Patty sits next to Charlie. Also, I was somewhat struck by the character of Linus, who seems to combine mature intellectual characteristics and immature emotional ones. Go figure. Anyway, I confess to having had a hard time figuring out what some of the characters said (fortunately I had a Portuguese audio track to help me), because the dubbers seemed to be real kids, and some of them seemed to be real francophones speaking English with an accent. Here is a fine review on the occasion of the DVD release (but I watched it on cable TV).

Rating: 44

L'enfer (1994)

Second viewing; first viewed on October 18, 1994.

English title: Hell

Based on a 1964 screenplay by Henri-Georges Clouzot and José-André Lacour (and possibly Jean Ferry, who is credited on the 1964 IMDB entry but not on the 1994 one).

A French hotelier suspects his wife of cheating on him with one of the hotel guests. He becomes progressively controlling towards her.

Not as bad as it seemed on my first viewing. Perhaps the timing factor is one possible detractor: in 1994 the situations do not seem as socially plausible as they would have thirty years earlier. Films about conjugal unfaithfulness always seem to me as they are touching upon something deeply philosophical about the nature of reality and such issues. On a more down-to-Earth note, why didn't the guy hire a detective (one might ask)? It is interesting to notice the different takes of this and two other fiction works dealing with male jealousy. Othello depicts a faithful wife and a mad(dened) husband. Intrigue, combined with racial difference, are factors. Dom Casmurro depicts a husband acting reasonably upon reasonable suspicion. The modern critique of him stems from pathologizing male jealousy in itself. It is entirely a matter of ideology. L'enfer depicts a husband whose madness is triggered by reasonable suspicion. Anyway, it is a finely built narrative, finely filmed too, and finely acted.

Rating: 60 (up from 49)

Summer Rental (1985)

An air traffic controller is on the verge of a burn-out, and is sent on mandatory vacation with his family. He goes to the beach, where he befriends a sea captain turned restaurateur. He suffers more than his share of vacation disasters, but in the end everything turns just fine.

The humor is invariably lame, and I only got some satisfaction from the fine cinematography and the overall niceness that is a characteristic of vacation movies.

Rating: 30

The Imitation Game (2014)

A fictionalized account of the life of Alan Turing, who worked for the allies during World War 2 trying to decrypt German messages.

I normally wouldn't watch a film this bad, but in this case I followed the usual routine with biopics: after viewing it due to an interest on its subject matter, I went to the goofs section on IMDB and learned a little bit about it.

Rating: 20