Jeca Tatu (1960)

The main character is a rural dweller who owns a small property and who suffers from chronic indisposition to work. It follows that his wife and children are overburdened with work. But the main plot is really about his daughter's romance with a richer landowner, and the schemes by another suitor to instill enmity between the two families.

This low-brow comedy is no Shakespeare for sure but does nevertheless come across, in plot at least, as a blend between Romeo and Juliet and Othello. It contains some political satire as well, which may be the best part of the movie. That subplot has the protagonist travelling the State capital to offer a Congressman the votes of his community's members in exchange of help to rebuild his burned house. The main character was inspired, in name and in behavior, on a homonymous one created by Monteiro Lobato in the early 20th century, who appeared first in short stories and later in a publicity text. That publicity text was part of a campaign to curb hookworm infection among rural populations, and was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company which used the publicity to advertise a concoction it produced (a "biotonic" unrelated to the object of the campaign). The message of the campaign was that the rural worker was not averse to working because of a personality defect, but rather as the result of a worm-related illness, which was in turn the product of bad hygiene habits. In the film there is no explicit mention of any of that; all we see is a scene where the protagonist apparently has itching feet. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the campaign may easily be led to conclude that the main character is indeed just lazy. Now enjoy a musical number from this film featuring the beautiful "Estrada do Sol", by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Dolores Duran:

Rating: 31