When no one was innocent
“Desmundo”

A world of brave men. People with great courage and spirit of adventure that left their countries and travelled to land owned by hostile indians and filled with wild animals. Their contribution, which vallue we can’t even calculate, allowed Brazil and the other American countries to be integrated in the civilized world represented by the Europe of the Modern Age.

When we have an initial look at the first century of colonization in Brazil and in the rest of the countries of America everything seems a bit boring, with just a few realizations and facts. There are, for example, the failure on the division of the land, the instalations of the sugar cane production, the arrival of the African slaves, the French attempts to invade Brazil.

Things seems to be tasteless, dull and uninteresting.

We forget that there was no trace of the Brazil we know nowadays in the sixteenth century. We can consider that Brazil was virgin land, used by just a few tribes of indians that planted manioc, hunted, fished and lived alike the paradise image described by the bible, with no shame and no sin.

When the Europeans arrived here, diferently that we thought they were not bringing the best of their civilization on the deck of their ships.

Their men were castaways, traffickers and people that was expelled from Europe as Eduardo Bueno explained in one of his bestselling books about brazilian colonial history. Rude men, as wild as the most feared indian tribes from Brazil. Outlaws very violent that came to America to survive and try to get some money.

“Desmundo”, a movie made by director Alain Fresnot, put us in touch with the reality of this sixteenth century Brazil, unknown by many of us. A country literally “rough”, somehow barbaric. So virile and brute that the movie, even though really beautifully made, with a meticulous reproduction of that time and a very talented group of actors, was not well accepted by the spectators.

I use to say to my students that cinema glorifies and makes history much better looking than it really was. Princess and kings were not so beautiful and healthy as american and european productions want us to think they were. They had many diseases, didn’t bath everyday, were not prepared to deal with many illness, didn’t brush their teeth very often, had a strong smell coming from their bodies and didn’t live more than 30 years average.

Fresnot had enough courage to show the sixteenth century as a period of rustic and coarse people. He took off the maquiage of the movies and created and authentic pearl, a movie that people should watch many times. Another golden goal from brazilian cinema.

The Movie

The Portuguese men that arrived in Brazil in the sixteenth century came from low families. They were not born in the traditional families of the nobility, they were members of the scum. They had lived the worst experiences that anyone could tell at that time. They had to “show their teeth” all the time, proving to be strong and apealling to the jungle law to conquer land, fight the indians (to steal their territories and make them become slaves) and establish production.

To hunt indians was more than a real need. It turned out to be a very profitable business in this period. It would help with the needs of a new country in which working men were not enough to respond to the work on the plantations, harvest and production of sugar that was being held everywhere. They also “helped” those indians because they brought their “civilization” and religion.

The indian women, besides all of that, were needed to fulfil the sexual desires of the europeans that were living here since they travelled with no family, without their wifes or any other white women. Alain Fresnot invites us to examine the story of women that were “imported” from Europe to marry with local “noblemen”.

The main character, Oribela (in a very good performance by actress Simone Spoladore) is one of the orphans, taken from the streets or from convents in Portugal to come to Brazil to get married. She arrived and in a short period of time her marriage was arranged with Francisco (Osmar Prado, in a scary and convincing role), a castaway that became a land and slave owner around here.

The struggle between Oribela, educated in a convent, and the violent and rude Francisco, main line of this story turns out to be more complex with the arrival of the merchant and new christian (a converted jew) Ximeno Dias (Caco Ciocler), for whom Oribela shows some fondness…

Strong and provocative, the movie invites us to reflect about the beginning of the brazilian history. Unmissable!

For Teachers

1- It would be interesting to compare “Desmundo” with Globo Network production “A Muralha” that presented us to the world of explorers called Bandeirantes. In both cases, the intention of the producers was to put us in touch with a time with very few information available. They also wanted to show to the spectators the tough reality of that time. To do it, they tried very much to present the sixteenth century as a virile, brute and bitter period. The comparison would be very good to see which piece got a better result on showing this raw Brazil.

2- Eduardo Bueno’s books were criticized by many historians but they turned out to be very important because they helped brazilian history to become prominent. They discussed our origins and related it them to bandits, orphans, castaways and traffickers. Outlaws that came to our country searching for new opportunities to recover. Work out some texts from his books could allow students to find out more information related to the happenings of the movie “Desmundo”. A closer relationship between movies and books is essential to make students understand history.

3- We live in a society that preserves, nowadays, its basis related to patriarchate. Families in the present time, specially on the major cities, seems more and more distant from this reality, in which the father concentrates power and responsabilities and demands, in exchange, the submission of the other members of the family to his demands and requirements. “Desmundo” works out this subject and can be used for teachers and students to review patriachate and find out more information about brazilian families actually.

4- What about making a research about the work developed on the reproduction of the sixteenth century on the movie “Desmundo”? Have a close look at the clothing, the constructions, the weapons, the tools and find out books that show images that characterize that period in which the story takes place. Create comparative charts and panels where the ilustrations and the movie images can be placed aside. Write about the mistakes and the good qualities of the production.

João Luís Almeida Machado
Master Degree in Education, Arts and History of Culture (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, in São Paulo); Professor at Faculdade Senac in Campos do Jordão; Middle and High School teacher; writes weekly columns for the website Planeta Educação

Send e-mails, comments, suggestions and critics for:
profjoaoluis@planetaeducacao.com.br

Technical Information

Desmundo

Country/Year of Production:- Brazil, 2003
Length of Time/Gender:- 101 min., Drama
Director: Alain Fresnot
Screenwriters: Sabina Anzuategui, Anna Muylaert e
Ana Miranda
Cast:- Simone Spoladore, Osmar Prado, Caco Ciocler, Beatriz Segall, Cacá Rosset, Berta Zemel, José Eduardo, Arrigo Barnabé.

Links

(in portuguese)

- e-pipoca.cidadeinternet.com.br/filmes_zoom.cfm?id=4567
- adorocinema.cidadeinternet.com.br/filmes/desmundo/desmundo.htm
- cineclick.virgula.terra.com.br/cinemateca/ficha_filme.php?id_cine=10659
- www.cineguia.com.br/index.shtml?cod_filme=CNA15137&rg=0