cmello-1 Reviews

Claro (1975)

Where the politics and cultural representation of religion meet

[8/10 · 8 September 2005]

I saw this film by chance, yesterday on the TV, and was glad to relate this movie to the 1970's production of Michelangelo Antonioni and other great directors. It takes place in Rome and some footage inserts from Rio de Janeiro and Bahia show the macumba and other cultural traces of the people's religiousness, in contrast to the behavior of the Italian strikers protesting and the cast of actors free interpretation of the timeless rites of Imperial Rome. It is said that Brazilian director Glauber Rocha referred to this movie as "a view of the colonists by the colonized". It is indeed a political thriller of its time, just like Bernardo Bertolucci's recent "The Dreamers". It was no surprise to reckon sex and drugs entwined amongst the politics of freedom, while guns spread fear and money only restrains individuals from expressing themselves.