Customer Reviews

Behind the Sun

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story in this film is simple: blood for blood feuding between two families in the backlands of Brazil. If left at that, this would be a conceptually boring movie, one done hundreds of times in various locations for varying Hollywood budgets. The glory of BEHIND THE SUN is in the presentation and transformation of a familiar precis into a visually stunning prolonged motion painting. Director Salles has assembled a cast of beautiful actors, minimized the Portuguese dialog so that the visuals may convey the text almost solo, and has added appropriations from other art forms to make this a memorable film. The only characters outside the feuding families are a traveling troupe of 'clowns' or a circus consisting of an older man and his senusously beautiful stepdaughter. This nod to the "I PAGLIACCI" opera invests intrigue and introduces the concept of the redeeming force of love into this otherwise blighted life story of a young man doomed to die for family honor. The photography is elegant, the acting is superb, the musical scoring is sensitively appropriate without drawing attention to itself. This is a very beautiful, very fine film.

This 2001 Brazilian film is one of the saddest I've ever seen. It's set in 1910 in the cane fields of Brazil. There are two families who live on adjourning land who are part of a blood feud that has gone back so far in time that nobody remembers the details.

The story unfolds through the point of view of a 10-year old boy. He is the youngest of three sons. His oldest brother has been killed a month before and his bloodstained shirt is drying in the sun. Now that the blood has turned yellow, it is time to revenge his death. This task falls to his beloved 20-year old brother Tonio, who, after a heartbreaking chase, murders a son of the rival family.

Now, we all know that Tonio will be murdered just as his rival was murdered. And we know he, too, has a month to live while the bloody shirt of his opponent dries in the sun. A lot happens though during this month though. A traveling circus passes by and Tonio falls in love with a young fire-eating performer and wants to stop the cycle of violence.

The film was beautiful inasmuch as it captured a time and a place and a code of honor that seems cruel and barbaric. It also captured the human spirit of the people involved in this tragedy.

BEHIND THE SUN, with English subtitles for Portuguese dialogue, is a Brazilian version of the Hatfield-McCoy feud and set in 1910. The Breves family - husband, wife, and two sons - are hardscrabble sugar cane farmers. We don't really know what the Ferreira family does - perhaps they're ranchers. Both clans have waged a blood feud for generations over a wretched piece of land better bulldozed flat for a shopping mall. Considering the endless cycle of an eye for an eye, will Tonio, the oldest Breves son, live long enough to venture beyond his family's land and experience love before the bloodstains on that Ferreira shirt turn from red to yellow in the wind and sun?

BEHIND THE SUN showcases actors that Americans have likely never seen before (and may never see again), but they're all excellent: José Dumont as Tonio's father, Rita Assemany as his mother, Ravi Lacerda as his young brother ("The Kid"), Flavia Antonio as bewitching Clara of the traveling carnival, and Rodrigo Santoro as Tonio himself. Filmed in color, the movie depicts a physical landscape of magnificent austerity. Had it been in black and white, it would have been almost brutal.

The film's thematic message, I think, is that embedded tribal conflicts based on ethnicity or religion or, in this case, some overblown concept of "honor", are almost impossible to resolve rationally and peacefully. And the film goes on to ask - and answer, in this particular storyline - the question of what must happen before the killing is to stop. My mild disenchantment with the theme of BEHIND THE SUN is the suspicion that it's been done previously many more times than I realize, most recently to my knowledge in the excellent film NO MAN'S LAND, which deals with a more contemporary antagonism. Moreover, the script reduces the problem of tribal conflict to the simplest scenario possible and thus oversimplifies the issue beyond everyday realities. However, in that it strips the issue down to the bone, so to speak, it does manage to admirably clarify the stupidity and tragedy of such discord. BEHIND THE SUN is a film to be admired, but not one to be seen for light entertainment.

Striking images all around, 'Behind the Sun' shows how a good picture can let you smell the air of the place, the breath of the people. Walter Salles ('Central Station' 'The Motorcycle Diaries') tells a story that resembles Greek dramas, with its simplicity and strength, but it is the picture's sheer beautiful visuals that makes 'Behind the Sun' a boon to every filmgoer. In short, watch this.

It's in 1910, in Brazil, in the middle of nowhere. Two families are feuding with each other, according to their peculiar rules. If one goes down, another member of the family revenges his death by killing the killer only. Thus the life goes on.

Among one of the family, we see the brothers -- younger Paku and elder Tonio. They work hard to make sugar, using the old machine and two cows, with their silent sad-eyed mother and very strict father. And the day finally comes when Tonio is ordered to kill: the spilled blood has turned yellow.

The bloody cycle of death is briefly disturbed when a beautiful circus girl comes to the near town. Or is it to be disturbed? Will Tonio choose another way of life? And what does Paku do?

You may say the plot is melodramatic. It is, sure, but the power of the story cannot be dismissed so easily. Walter Salles succeeds in creating the atmosphere of the place, and despair and hope of the characters as well, all of which are so compelling.

Also helped by the good acting from Rodrigo Santoro (in 'Love Actually' as Laura Linney's love), the film is about those characters and images. like 'Central Station.' For all its slightly conventional storytelling (and very powerful one), 'Behind the Sun' remains a gripping experience all throughout.

The story is inspired by a novel 'Broken April' written by Ismail Kadare. The film changed the original's location (in Alvania) to Brazil, and was shot in the really desert places where the sun scorches from the deep blue sky onto the red rocks. (It is said that the cast and crew had to travel from the nearest hotel to the location more than 200 km. everyday.) And see Vinicius de Oliveira, as the family member rivalling Tonio's, who was the little boy in 'Central Station'

Set in Brazil in 1910, Behind the sun is the tale of two families who are caught up in a deadly feud over land, which each family says they own. It is a mythical tale of the eldest son fighting until his death, so that the family can retain possession of disputed territory, with the eldest brother forced to play the part of murdering his brother's murderer, time after time. Set in the remotest part of Brazil, Tonio (played by Rodrigo Santoro) is forced to carry out a bloody ritual, killing the son of a neighbor for land in a feud which claimed the lives of many young men. After Tonio does the job required by his family, he seeks a truce with the opposing family, wanting to end this pointless tradition, one which is causing only pain and acrimony among the families. The other family does not wish to put an end to this tradition, and gives Tonio a certain amount of time before his own life is on the line once more. After this, Tonio falls in love with a girl from a traveling circus, and must make a decision of whether to continue his family's bloody tradition, or follow his heart and find the redemptive power of love. I cannot say too much else for fear of giving away some of the story and plot lines, but it is a wonderfully crafted movie and story.

The metaphors in this film are many and are stark, and get the point across very simply, but also very effectively. From the oxen turning going in circles churning out the sugarcane, to the path taken by Tonio throughout the movie (and different at the end), Walter Salles gets his point across very well, and on a dramatic scale as well, as the scenery is breathtaking beyond measure. It is quite simply, an amazing movie.

Highly recommended.

As all movies from Walter Salles this one is great. What makes this one even better than his previous ones is the camera. You can hit pause anytime and you will see a great picture.
The movie shows a part of Brazil, the Sertão, which is completely unknown to most people, but has its own beauty.
The actors a re unknown ones, but they are great.

If you are interested in movies which are not typically (stupid) Hollywood you should definetly get it!
Great!!!

Walter Salles will probably best be known to American audiences for his recent film, "The Motorcycle Diaries", yet "Behind The Sun" is a must see for anyone willing to learn about "The Other Brazil."

Behind The Sun is set in Brazil's arid, drought-stricken region , known as the Sertao (located in the northeast). A region where thousands have died because of its notoriously harsh conditions, the Sertao is the antithesis of the stereotypical image of the country: a lushly green paradise whose expansive rainforest seemingly never ends. Perhaps the Sertao, with its almost hateful environment, presents the perfect backdrop for a blood-drenched feud between two hateful families.

When Tonio's older brother is murdered by the rival Fereiras, his father calls upon him to fuffill his obligations and defend the honor of the family; that is, murder his brother's murderer. And this Tonio does, but in doing so, he only contributes to a never-ending cycle of violence, "where the dead command the living". For by becoming a murderer, Tonio himself has sealed his own fate; now he is a (literally) marked man.

The only thing that can interrupt this cycle is a female circus performer, who enchants both Tonio and his younger brother (the narrator of this film), and who provides Tonio with an escape from both the violence and the rythyms of the cane harvest.

Behind The Sun is a well-acted, well-directed film about revenge and redemption. For these merits alone it would be worth purchasing. As other viewers have noted, however, the real gem of this film is the cinematography, which is some of the most beautiful I have seen. For those who have difficulty visualizing the Sertao, think of Arizona or the Badlands, and you will have something close.

Behind the Sun is a moving film, and it clearly demonstrates that Brazilian cinema is at its peak now.

-James

simply beatiful and wonderful. i wish all the movies were like this one. it is not complicated, it is not hollywood, different characters, no tom cruise or bradd pit...

you will be mesmerized.....believe me.

- otoniel

Behind the Sun takes place in 1910 in the Brazilian countryside. Even so, the movie has a timeless feel to it. Two families have a long standing feud and the film very early on shows us a dream sequence with the oldest son of the Breves family being ambushed and shot while carrying his youngest brother, "kid," on his shoulders across an open field. The shirt of the victim is hung on a clothesline. When the blood turns yellow, Tonio, the son next in line, will be required to ambush and kill the member of the rival Ferreira family who murdered his brother.

Tonio carries out his assignment, kills his rival, and the stage is now set for the process to be repeated, seemingly in an endless cycle which will ultimately destroy both families. Unfortunately, a misguided sense of honor has blinded both families to the stupidity and senselessness of the feud.

Only the youngest brother of the Breves family, the kid, seems immune to the craziness of the longstanding feud. He is a dreamer and we see him pouring over a book about the ocean given to him by circus performers who are on their way to the next town to set up their tent. The fire-eater in the circus is a beautiful young woman and the kid's older brother Tonio falls in love with her at first sight. This complicates matters because Tonio knows that he doesn't have much longer to live. The rival family will kill him when the blood on the shirt of the man Tonio killed turns yellow.

Except for brief moments at the circus, we experience the suffering of a family that has lost much and appears destined to lose even more. The Breves family has no hope and no future because tradition and honor are more powerful than reason. We don't have to look far to see counterparts everywhere today -- Northern Ireland, Palestine, Bosnia, etc.

The climax of the film is heartbreakingly sad -- no Hollywood ending here. The kid loves his brother Tonio and wants him to be happy. He is a dreamer and he is willing to pay the price to make his dreams come true. His dreams and sacrifice are a means of liberation for his brother and his family and an example for all of us. We will not soon forget him.

What kind of view could one expect from Behind the Sun? Perception is obviously distorted. From space, the sun is a hot fiery ball of yellow and red - an interesting contrast to the yellow globe that lights our day, and a unique use of symbolism in the movie. Sacrificing their children in the name of vengeance, the principle characters fight a losing battle for "honor." Honor that is the only remnant of a dying culture, and the only thing left that gives meaning to life.
The cycle of killing and vengeance is ultimately superceded - not by the principles alone, but by providence in the form of a visiting female circus performer. The performer offers vision, hope, and love to a pair of brothers doomed to a future of despair.
The major parts of the movie - acting, scenery, cinematography, all come together in a masterful way to augment an otherwise abstract story. In all, this piece represents an extraordinary work.