475. Terra em Transe/Earth Entranced (1967)

Running Time: 106 minutes
Directed By: Glauber Rocha
Written By: Glauber Rocha
Main Cast: Jardel Filho, Paulo Autran, Jose Lewgoy, Glauce Rocha, Paulo Gracindo

LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA

Ay ay ay (my new catchphrase, following "tough nut to crack"), this is going to be a rough review to write. This is "Earth Entranced", one that took me years to finally track down via the interwebs and while it had a few pluses, it was ultimately a miss with yours truly. Read on...

I'm not gonna' lie, I was kinda confused by the plot. But, hey, I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack, so maybe it was just me. The thing is, is that it was a very political movie and actually, according to THE BOOK, dealt with some real political shifts that occurred in Brazil, in the 60s. That being said, I don't usually do well with anything having to do with politics or any history having to do with political coups, power shifts, foreign elections or anything like that. Hell, I barely know who the Vice President of the United States is, let alone getting interested in political power struggles of other countries, that are more than fifty years old. That's my excuse as to why I was kind of only half watching this. I will say, however, that the music and the photography were both top notch and the style was really something to marvel at, as you got the sense that even though you weren't digging the subject matter, that this Rocha cat really knew what he was doing and knew how he wanted to present his piece. Therefore, if you're like me and you're really not picking up what he's laying down, subject wise; you can at least take solace in the fact that there's a great mind behind the camera and the photography at least gives you something fantastic to look at. There's also this sweet little jazz score that pops up here & there and somehow it works, despite the subject matter really not being something that would lend itself to jazz.

So that's pretty much my word on this one, in a nutshell. I was kind of surprised at how it seemed to flow by really nicely, at least for the first hour. After that, things get a bit muddled and by the time we crossed the 1:05, 1:10 mark I was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. Yet, there was still like forty minutes left so it quickly became a major chore. The actors (I'm guessing non-professionals?) were okay, I guess - doing what they could to contribute, though nothing particularly special. I have to assume that Glauce Rocha (Sara) was the wife of the director (?). Anyway, that's really all I have on this one. I have "Black God, White Devil" scheduled for this season too, so I'll probably just go ahead and do that one soon, maybe as a compare/contrast type deal - because it's also directed by Rocha.

RATING: 3.5/10  Despite the incredibly low rating, I still have to give a little credit where it's due. It's not as taxing as others rarities and some may even find it quite good, as there are good elements.

MOVIES WATCHED: 814
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 187

March 6, 2014  7:59pm