New 4K Restoration
Steeped in history, myth, religion, and politics, and suffused with the feverish intensity of the blistering desert, this film is one of the Cinema Novo movement's most uncompromising statements on current social issues and the universal problem of mindless fanaticism. 60th anniversary screening.
Glauber Rocha's sophomore feature is a scorched-earth allegory about the blind followers of dead-end ideologies. Somewhere in the Brazilian hinterlands of the 1940s, ranch hand Manoel becomes an outlaw after killing his swindling boss. He pledges allegiance to Sebastião, a self-styled holy man who preaches revolt against rich landowners even as he perpetrates unspeakable acts of violent zealotry against the innocent. While the landowners hire a mercenary to take out Sebastião, Manoel and his wife Rosa join cangaceiros Corisco and Dadá, only to find themselves once more in league with evil, deluded forces. [118 min; adventure, crime, drama; Portuguese with English subtitles]
"By depicting revolutionary fiascos in a critical yet sympathetic light, Glauber Rocha calls on us to imagine what we’d want a revolution to look like, rather than having it spoon-fed to us by those claiming to represent a power beyond ourselves." — William Repass, Slant Magazine
"The fusion of European and Afro-Brazilian elements—dialogue, exquisite black-and-white images, and music by VillaLobos—is startlingly original and poetical in conveying the hope and despair of the oppressed." — Ted Shen, Chicago Reader
"Black God, White Devil is the most beautiful thing I have seen in more than a decade, filled with a savage poetry." — Luis Buñuel
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
Sept 28
