Bacurau is the confluence of films like Mad Max & Hard Target directed by Sergio Leone while still having a social message. It’s a little outside the box for the team of Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles but its end results are simply glorious.
A few years from now… Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps and a UFO style drone is flying overhead with some mysterious strangers who want to force them from their homes.
These are not the filmmakers that you’d expect a pre-dystopian western from; but that’s exactly why this all works so well.
Grindhouse and Art-House don’t typically blend so well but the team of Filho and Dornelles kept it at a perfect balance as it’s still a heartfelt and earnest story about the denizens of Brazil and the difficulties surrounding day to day life but it also allows for a little dirt under the nails. In a style that is reminiscent of Sergio Leone, the story and the action all has a very rough feel too it, but it maintains a genuine cinematic scope.
With scene stealing performances from Udo Kier and Sonia Braga, everything about Bacurau suggests that it just shouldn’t work as well as it does as this genre hybrid parable about the influence of government on people looms large while still being entertaining as hell.
David Voigt is a Toronto based writer with a problem and a passion for the moving image and all things cinema. Having moved from production to the critical side of the aisle for well over 15 years now at outlets like Examiner.com, Criticize This, Dork Shelf (Now That Shelf), and to.Night Newspaper.
He’s been all across the continent; serving on the FIPRESCI Jury at the Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, covering festivals out side of Toronto like Calgary Underground Film Festival, CUFF Docs, Slamdance, Fantasia, SXSW, DOC NYC, Santa Barbara Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival and many others
However, In the uncertain world of modern film journalism, David also knew that he needed to have a hand in writing and cementing his own contributions on the global film scene.
Having eclipsed the 10 year anniversary of his own outlet, In The Seats, where he’s been striving to support film (and TV) from all walks of life and his podcast “In The Seats With…” where after 5 & ½ years and over 750 episodes he’s talked with a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, behind the scenes artisans and so much more on the art of storytelling for the screen, which is spawning the launch of a new show in the Spring of 2026. “ITS: Soundtracks” will focus on the use of soundtrack and score in film which he believes is a combination that is the cinematic equivalent of Peanut Butter and Chocolate.
All this as well as hosting and moderating a variety of big screen events around the city, covering film in all its forms is just a way of life for him.
TIFF 2019: Our Review of ‘Bacurau’
Bacurau is the confluence of films like Mad Max & Hard Target directed by Sergio Leone while still having a social message. It’s a little outside the box for the team of Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles but its end results are simply glorious.
A few years from now… Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps and a UFO style drone is flying overhead with some mysterious strangers who want to force them from their homes.
These are not the filmmakers that you’d expect a pre-dystopian western from; but that’s exactly why this all works so well.
Grindhouse and Art-House don’t typically blend so well but the team of Filho and Dornelles kept it at a perfect balance as it’s still a heartfelt and earnest story about the denizens of Brazil and the difficulties surrounding day to day life but it also allows for a little dirt under the nails. In a style that is reminiscent of Sergio Leone, the story and the action all has a very rough feel too it, but it maintains a genuine cinematic scope.
With scene stealing performances from Udo Kier and Sonia Braga, everything about Bacurau suggests that it just shouldn’t work as well as it does as this genre hybrid parable about the influence of government on people looms large while still being entertaining as hell.