O Pagador de Promessas
Plots(1)
A peasant farmer makes a vow to carry a cross into the local church if his injured donkey is cured. Sure enough, the miracle happens, and the man gives away his land and sets out with a heavy wooden cross to walk the ten miles to his church. But once there, he is locked out -- it is past closing time. While he and his wife wait for the church to open again, everything starts to go wrong. Before much time has gone by, the peasant's mission has turned into a media circus, misinterpreted by everyone, including the priest. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (3)
A sharply funny, but mostly bitterly sad story about the fact that the world has no place and understanding for a decent person. The viewer doesn’t need to identify too much with the protagonist as the attention is increasingly drawn towards the consequences his moral intransigence and purity has on his corrupt and manipulative environment – in this sense the film is perhaps predictable and not very original, but nonetheless appealing and true. I didn’t like some of the tedious dance numbers and the weak crescendo before the otherwise satisfying ending, but other than that, it’s a mature film and an interesting metaphor of the story of Jesus Christ.
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The religious behavior of the main character can be viewed from two perspectives - firstly, as a representative of folk pagan religion, and secondly, we could consider him a demonstration of the fact why the number of Protestants is constantly increasing at the expense of Catholics not only in Brazil but throughout Latin America. His act of faith is incomprehensible to everyone else, but this can be, and is, absolutely irrelevant to our protagonist. He is concerned with fulfilling his personal, inner decision, which can neither be canceled by a Catholic priest nor by a folk shaman. Through this, the inevitable tragedy of our character is revealed - he is neither Catholic nor Protestant nor pagan - and therefore ends up like Jesus, who was also neither Christian nor Jewish. That is always more dangerous than an easily assignable identity. Duarte brilliantly captured the selfishness of all classes and types of people, whose actions make the main character a mere vanishing point in the perspective of their own interests. However, the film occasionally carries the scent of older times, which would soon be swept away by the wave of cinema novo.
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A very cruel film that shows that faith is hypocrisy, but it's quite a normal finding. The way the story is presented is truly an interesting martyrdom, a modern interpretation of Calvary, which is even stronger in the Brazilian environment, as the country is still more religious than ours. You simply can't sit calmly during the last scene. It will leave an impression on you.
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