Close encounter with misery
"Ilha das Flores"

Misery is the main subject of the awarded work conducted by director Jorge Furtado. The usage of a title that contradictes the story developed throughout the 13 minutes of this short film is one of a few great ideas presented in this movie. But it is not the only one!

The educational exposure of ideas, in an orderly way, tighting up concepts as they appear in the words solidly spoken by narrator Paulo José (a well known brazilian actor) create an axis; the spectators of the film will keep on gravitating around it.

The crazy rythm utilized so that we get to know about Mr. Suzuki's tomatoes, the perfume of Mrs. Anete, the discovery of money and particular characteristics of human beings (the oppositor thumb and the highly developed brain) gives us a short period of time to reflect about all the information and demands that we watch the video two or, even, three times.

Another strong characteristic of this short film is the exposure of many images. It works as if the director and the editors of the movie had made a collage. The images succed one another very quickly according to the need to explain a concept or idea that arouses from the speech. It is maddening and this aspect is one among others that make this a film people must watch; everybody (inclunding students) pay attention all the time.

The short film format is another particular aspect that is interesting for educator. Can be easily adapted to the class period and don't give enough time for students to even yawn.
The most important thing, however is that "Ilha das Flores" brings poverty, hunger and social exclusion to an open debate. If we get to think this movie was made in 1989, we can realize that reality in Brazil didn't change much from that time until today.

The Story

Mr. Suzuki, a japanese tomato producer that workes in the region of Porto Alegre (Brazil), send his products to supermarkets of the metropolitan region of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul on a kombi vehicle.

Mrs. Anete, a brazilian perfume seller, walks in the city searching for people interested in acquiring her merchandise. From selling this products and, by subtracting costs for the acquisition of it, comes her profits. With the profits, Mrs. Anete goes to a Porto Alegre supermarket and buy tomatoes and pork meat.

Pork meat and tomatoes are the main dishes for the meal that Mrs. Anete is preparing for her family. Among the tomatoes bought by Mrs. Anete there was one considered not adequate for human consumption (according to mrs. Anete way of thinking). This deteriorated product was thrown on the garbage.

As it happens every day in many big cities of Brazil (the same way around the world), garbage was collected and sent to deposits located on the peripheral area of these major cities. What is identified as organic garbage is put aside and used as food for pigs that belong to one person who lives in an specific garbage deposit of Porto Alegre, ironically called "Ilha das Flores" (it means Flower Island in English).

The problem is that, after this sellective process of collecting garbage, which indicated what could be used as pigs food, other human beings (just like the other ones, having highly developed brains and oppositor thumb) start fighting for the left-overs of the garbage sent to Ilha das Flores (anything that was not used by the pigs) ...

For Teachers

1- In a time in which there is a lot of stimullus for solidary actions by Non Governamental Institutions and by the purpose of the national government to fight against hunger (and misery) in our country, what do you think of learning a bit more about the way social disgrace happens? Tell your students to search for information about the poor neighborhood of your city, to interview people that live in these parts of your town, to try to find out what the local autorities are doing to solve this problem...

2- Another possibility is to organize solidarity groups that can visit poor comunities, promote donations of food, take there products to the people that need them,...

3- There are brazilian writers that specialized their work on subjects related to the main themes of the movie "Ilha das Flores". Select articles and books and ask your students to read and discuss it, to produce texts about it, to compare to the movie,...

4- Ask the students to go in the opposite direction of the work developed by the people who produced "Ilha das Flores". Tell them to rewrite the script of the film following, on the beginning, the ideas and ways of working of the director and the screenwriter. Afterwards ask them to make a new work that is based on their reality, actuallized.

P.S.
a) the website www.portacurtas.com.br allows us to see the short film "Ilha das Flores" among others; to do so you must have installed Real Player or Windows Media Player in your computer.

b) In Brazil the film "Ilha das Flores" can be found in video rental stores in a VHS tape named "Curta com os Gaúchos"; this tape contains short films produced by directors from Rio Grande do Sul state.

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 (www.planetaeducacao.com.br).

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

Technical Information

Ilha das Flores

Country/Year of production:- Brazil, 1989
Lenght of time/Gender:- 13 min., Documentary
Director: Jorge Furtado
Screenwriter: Jorge Furtado
Cast:- Ciça Reckziegel, Gozei Kitajima, Takehijo Suzuki.
Narração de Paulo José.

Links

All links are in portuguese
- http://www.portacurtas.com.br/Filme.asp?Cod=647
- http://www.casacinepoa.com.br/port/filmes/ilhadasf.htm
- http://www.curtagora.com/filme.asp?Codigo=560&Ficha=Completa
- http://www.terra.com.br/cinema/favoritos/flores.htm
- http://www.cineguia.com.br/index.shtml?cod_filme=CNA0302&rg=0/