Black God, White Devil
Black God, White Devil
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2h 1m
Directed by Glauber Rocha • 1964 • Brazil Starring Geraldo Del Rey, Yoná Magalhães, Othon Bastos
Myth, mysticism, and revolution collide in a blistering existential western from Glauber Rocha, a pioneer of Brazil’s socially committed Cinema Novo movement. After killing his swindling boss, ranch hand Manoel (Geraldo Del Rey) goes on the run with his wife, Rosa (Yoná Magalhães). In the stark hinterlands, they join forces with armed bandits and pledge allegiance to a self-styled holy man who preaches revolt against rich landowners while perpetrating unspeakable acts of violence against the innocent. Suffused with antiauthoritarian fervor and the intensity of life in the desert, this landmark work of radical cinema is a scorched-earth allegory about mindless fanaticism and the allure of dead-end ideologies.
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BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL Commentary
This commentary track, recorded in February 2023, features restoration producer Lino Meireles.
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Richard Peña on BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL
In this 2024 interview, film scholar Richard Peña discusses the origins of Cinema Novo and how director Glauber Rocha’s BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL helped to establish the Brazilian film movement of the 1960s.
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Memória do Cangaço
This 1964 documentary by writer and filmmaker Paulo Gil Soares about the origins of cangaço, a form of social banditry in northeastern Brazil, features interviews with scholar Estácio de Lima, cangaceiros Benício Alves dos Santos and Ângelo Roque, and military police lieutenant Zé Rufino. It also...
