Films with: Vasconcelos, Luiz Carlos

Behind the sun

Two families, who both grow sugar cane, have been squabbling over the ownership of a piece of land for years. The disagreement then turned violent. The Breveses, a much smaller family, have been suffering more than their rivals and a steady drop in sugar prices has also left the family with little but their pride. When the eldest son of the Breves family is killed, his father orders his next-oldest son to kill one of the Ferreira boys. He finds himself questioning the wisdom of this bloody rivalry, and he ponders his fate while spending time with his younger brother.

DVD 8490

Carandiru

Set in São Paulo's House of Detention, locally known as Carandiru. An oncologist arrives at the jail to test patients for HIV infection. Seeing the disease, overcrowding, and rampant circulation of drugs, the doctor comes to realize the internal power structure among the prisoners. Narratives develop, including the attempted murder of Dagger, the solitary confinement of Chico, and the romance between Lady Di and Too Bad. The doctor eventually begins to see the prisoners as survivors. Culminates with a violent conclusion: a dramatization of the October 2, 1992 prison riot known as the Carandiru Massacre, in which 111 prisoners are killed.

DVD 3758

Eu, tu, eles

In a poor, dusty corner of Northeastern Brazil, pregnant Darlene says good-bye to her aged mother, her dusty settlement town, and sets off to be married. The wedding doesn't happen; she returns home years later with a son, in time to bury her mother. Darlene isn't especially young or gorgeous, but she is radiant with a full-bodied, earthy eroticism that proves irresistible to first one, then two, and finally three men. If Darlene needs all three to make one complete husband, well, they believe she has enough love to go around. The film weds the humor and magic of a folk tale to a very modern feel for the psychological dynamics between men and women, and for the subtle politics of male rivalry in a macho culture.

DVD 8498