One of the most profound pieces of non fiction cinema I have seen. Haunting look at the progression of the fall of the Chilean government. The failures of democracy. The narration here is not overbearing nor opinionated , leaving room for words to be spoken by Chilean people. The narrator simply provides historical context for the film’s audience. An attempt to suffocate the working class, leaving them divided. The final sequence is imprinted into my mind for eternity. Chilling and haunting, staring into the barrel of a gun.

Terra em Transe was a film of anger and perhaps exhaustion. Highly successful in presenting allegory that is planted and stems from the real. Chaotic and fragmented memories flashing before your eyes on the moment before death. Left hopeless, we aren’t allowed to feel satisfied by any attempt at revolution at this point. Characters morphing into one another like a bad dreams, or a forgotten memory. Thrashing camera movements, restlessness. Shakespearean tension and agony.

It seems that this particular film in Cinema Novo has elements of French new wave, particularly Godard. Something I will say, this film feels like its mastered those elements, sound design and editing, far better than I’ve seen Godard be able to do. There is more passion in the suffering here. There is real oppression and opposition here. This is my favorite Rocha film I have seen so far.

-Evie Rosheger

I found this film to be highly allegorical, Faith is used as political resistance, somewhat fantastical. I found that Corisco seemed to represent this sort of spiritual resistance. There has to be rebellion in order to provoke change. To be radical means to change everything. In order to stop the cycle, one must dismantle it form the root up. I think Rocha’s use of the folklore is so strong in instilling a feeling of resistance to oppression.

-Evie Rosheger

I found the film to be very impactful in the way in which storytelling and folklore were used as allegory for a larger issue of change and modernity. It also was there to represent a resistance towards oppression. I think nature was there to playa role. Nature, the ocean in this case, was a character. It also interesting to analyze the relationship the characters had to indoor vs outdoor spaces. What was considered in doors vs what was considered outdoors.

I was very moved by “Di Cavalcanti Di Glauber”. For me it raised the question, does art need to be confined within ethics to be powerful and serve its purpose? It comes down to the form and conception, which I would consider strong in this short. At certain points Rocha is almost yelling at us, filled with grief and passion. The frames flow almost as if they are a painting, perhaps an acknowledgement to the former painters life and impact. Confined work can not be as strong as work that subverts conventional parameters.

What made me appreciate the form of Eryk Rocha’s documentary Cinema Novo, was the obvious choice to enlighten the audience on Brasil’s cinematic movement in a poetic way. The documentary is both educational and relatively immersive. To really prove the essence of cinema novo movement, it is imperative to focus in emotion and style. The documentary flows in a haunting way, flashing archival footage while simultaneously layering sound. The film almost creates a montage similar to that of early cinema, building off of itself, setting the scene. Now while the film feels educations, it also feels that some of that knowledge received while watching, comes from feelings conjured during its run time. Feeling down to its core is what matters here. It is through feeling that out thoughts are motivated.

After watching De Cierta Manera by Sara Gomez, I felt enlightened. The fiction/ non fiction hybrid aspect to the film allowed for me to further immerse myself into the realism portrayed in the film. Every character was allowed the space for complexity. I think something Sara was doing with this film was expressing her knowledge that the revolution was not done. It was not complete. She brings forth so many nuances that come with something like a revolution. The complexity of gender and culture, dancing on the line of erasing that culture for the sake of gender. The work here is not finished, is what I think Gomez is telling us. A relationship like Yolanda and Mario’s is a product of this half baked revolution. A young woman, from an upper class background involving herself in communism and teaching students while also dating a working class man. I don’t see this as preformatism on Yoland’s behalf, yet it does feel as though she is checking off boxes in terms of what a young revolutionary should do. And that is where we see the complexity of the characters shine through. The film reads overall as an encouragement for Cuba to strive for more.