Essentially a parable of 20th Century Brazilian politics, Glauber Rocha’s 1967 Entranced Earth, with its poetic metaphors, psychological insights and personal perspective, demystifies both the right and the left and shows us what rises from the ashes of political destruction: ecce homo.
Within Glauber Rocha’s tour de force of Cinema Novo (Brazilian New Wave) there lies every Brazilian who has ever lived. For the film speaks of what typifies people’s feelings towards politics: a historical disenchantment. Paulo, the protagonist of Entranced Earth a.k.a. ‘Land in Anguish’ [Terra em Transe] is the epitome of Brazilian disillusion with the political class, and more pertinently, with political life in general. Perhaps, it is to do with the centuries of entrenched inequalities and the blind ignorance of some pressure groups. Or maybe it comes from a fatal flaw in the people’s DNA. What is certain however is that this masterpiece contains the story of Brazil. Continue reading
TOWARDS A GREATER CANON 