Review written by Raul De Leon
Vazante (2018)
I was attracted to Vazante because of the black and white photography and the unfamiliar subject matter, and that is most of what I enjoyed. Brazilian filmmaker Daniela Thomas follows her own intuition of idle drama, but it proves to be too restful to have a lasting impact on her audience.
So very few films are made on one of humanity’s most important historical topics; slavery. Thomas diligently takes hold of the reins to steer our attention to the reality of the abundantly dismal practice. Her main character, Antonio, is a wealthy cattle herder and slave master in 1820’s Brazil, who falls neck deep into depression when his wife and unborn child die during labor. Eventually he remarries to his wife’s adolescent niece, Beatriz, as an attempt to regain some happiness, but can any slave owner truly be happy?
“Nothing grows here”, Antonio says of his land. How can any life flourish in an organized hell? Slaves do their best with song, dance, and familial love but even they can’t all get along due to unmatched levels of fear and rebellion. Lider is the most rebellious serf who would rather die than to continue on, and Jeremias is an Uncle Tom farmer who strangely enforces master Antonio’s rule with an iron fist. There are many different personalities and positions but they all have been warped by poisonous living. Master Antonio spends most of his time despondently wading back and forth in a hammock, totally apathetic toward the death, attempted escapes, and chaos that surrounds him. A most veracious life-attestment lies in the love between Beatriz and a slave boy, but obviously in this habitat, it can only wither and die. Beatriz might as well be a slave herself, having to lie in bed with her own Uncle who’s three times her age. The surge that the film’s title, Vazante, refers to can only be an unfavorable one because all parties are smothered in gloom.
Vazante‘s unfocused plot sits and watches God’s wrath leisurely unfold among everyone at the estate. It’s not so much of a story as it is just things happening on and around the plantation. Thomas doesn’t exactly spell everything out either. Using minimal coverage, she sometimes leaves you with scenes that are unclear or rather frivolous. Arguably Thomas’ sterile drama enhances the psychological space of tragic characters, but for me it acts more like a dulling spray. Vazante doesn’t move at a moderate rate, it moves at a depressive one.
“Slow” is going to be the adjective used by those who dislike the film, along with “boring”. Vazante is completely lacking in any excitement other than a momentous ending. Those who attend a screening in the first place are probably accustomed to a slower-pace, and so Vazante ends up being a decent two hour watch that will likely be forgotten in the long run. Considering that this is a production from two nations in a short supply of film, and uses unknown actors, that’s not too bad.
If you liked Vazante, you might also like; 12 Years a Slave (2013), Embrace of the Serpent (2015), Amistad (1997), Roots (1977).
Check out the rest of my reviews on my website: Rauloncinema.com
Cerebral Film Reviews 