Vazante (2017)

Vazante: Directed by Daniela Thomas. With Adriano Carvalho, Luana Nastas, Sandra Corveloni, Juliana Carneiro da Cunha. Brazil 1821. A rich cattle herder finds out that his wife dies in labor. Forced to live in the property with numerous African slaves, he marries his wife’s niece. But he returns to droving, leaving his wife behind alone with the slaves.

“This visual arresting film is about 1800s colonial life in central Brazil depicting the harsh life of slavery plus a forbidden love story and vengeance. Its cast produces wonderful performances like the main protagonist, u0026quot;Antoniou0026quot; played by Adriano Carvalho.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story unfolds as u0026quot;Antoniou0026quot; tends to his settlement, a place of numerous slaves and marries his recently deceased wifeu0026#39;s teen niece, u0026quot;Beatrizu0026quot; (played tenderly by Luana Nastas). The strength of this story is the focus on gender, since its female characters dominate this film. From the masteru0026#39;s maternal household to the slave women used for sexual affairs and labor for Antonio, this cast of diverse women characters solidify the storytelling. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is met with visceral imagery as it was shot entirely in black and white. Thomasu0026#39;s depiction of plantation work and visual references of Minas Gerais (known for its mining history) follows great Brazilian photographic traditions. There is almost no music soundtrack (although Brazilian legendary musician, Tom Ze has a track in the film) letting the viewer take in sounds from the landscape of birds chirping to food cooking throughout the house.”