Vidas secas (Barren Lives). 1963. Brazil. Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 100 min.
With Átilá Iório, Maria Ribiero, Orlando Macedo. Widely cited as the film that helped launch Cinema Novo, Barren Lives stands as one of Pereira's most celebrated films. Based on the novel by Graciliano Ramos, the film follows an itinerant family and their dog as they travel across the parched, pitiless landscape of the sertão in Northeast Brazil and eke out a meager living. Opting for a naked, unfiltered lens and the use of natural lighting, the director offers an unsparing portrait of grinding poverty through a series of striking formal maneuvers. Though set in 1941, two decades prior to the film’s production, Barren Lives resonated deeply with a contemporary situation in which little had changed for the region’s struggling agrarian workers. It is a work of considerable effect, achieved through limited means. 35mm.