/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/FILM-BRAZIL: Darlene, Three Husbands and Poverty

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep 5 2000 (IPS) - The story of a woman with three husbands, living in the poor, drought-stricken interior of northeastern Brazil, plays out on the big screen, feeding hopes this year of international box-office success and awards for this Brazilian-made movie.

The film premiered Aug. 18 with all the trappings of a major production – dozens of copies distributed and 850,000 dollars in publicity – but “Eu, tu, eles” (Me, You, Them) has had a mediocre run so far. Ticket sales are not what the film studio had hoped, though the movie does make audiences laugh while portraying the harsh reality of a forgotten corner of the country.

It is the second film by director Andrucha Waddington, 30, a former “child prodigy” of the advertising world. The story is based on a true story that made headlines a few years ago.

Marlene Saboia – named Darlene in the film – is played by the charismatic Regina Casé, an actress who returned to the big screen after many years hosting a television talk-show in which she interviewed prominent Brazilians from around the country.

Darlene’s story unfolds in a desolate scenario, typical of the poorest areas of northeastern Brazil. Dead, twisted trees and burnt sugar cane fields (to facilitate cutting) serve as the backdrop for a cinematography that makes what little green remains in the region virtually disappear.

The Brazilian northeast is plagued by drought. In the film, water is only to be found in a distant lake, which becomes smaller with each passing day.

The story begins as Darlene leaves the bleak region behind, even though she is pregnant, to try her luck in the capital. She returns to her village three years later with her son, in time to bury her mother.

She finds herself alone with her young son, so agrees to marry Osías (played by Lima Duarte), a 50-year-old bachelor who is a grouch and extremely lazy, but he owns a herd of goats and a big house, though it is rustic – made of wood and mud.

Darlene’s life continues as dry as the surrounding environment, but she prepares to raise a second son who is evidently the result of an affair, given that he is of mixed race. Deepening poverty forces her to hand over her first son to the biological father, owner of a neighbouring property.

Fate brings a second man to the house, Zezinho (Stênio García), Osías’ cousin of the same age who has been left homeless. The new “husband,” very innocent and affectionate, offers Darlene help in the kitchen as well as a better sex life, which results in a third child.

Darlene is still young and strong, despite her older appearance. She works cutting sugar cane in distant plantations to insure an income for her family of two older men and two children. Her only happiness seems to be when, on rare occasions, she can dance at a “forró” (dancehall) in a nearby village.

Then Ciro (Luiz Carlos Vasconcelhos) appears. He is also a cane cutter, has a good physique and is approximately the same age as Darlene. He brings with him passion, which produces a fourth child. Darlene manages to incorporate this third “husband” into the household, manoeuvring to avoid conflicts.

Reality forces the two older men to accept the polyandrous situation because the two younger workers put food on the table for everyone.

Osías, the legal husband who wields authority as owner of the house, gives in to the situation in the end, but claims the right to name the children and register them legally as his own.

With its scant and brief dialogues, the film does not explicitly provide the reasons behind the characters’ acceptance of their miserable circumstances.

Darlene, for example, daring and free – at least sexually – with the inner strength that led her to emigrate from the region while pregnant, give birth to four children and establish an extended and unusual family, surrenders to the authoritarianism of Osías.

But her legal husband, though a bully, does not react with the violence one would expect to his wife’s “betrayals,” even in this region where adultery often ends in murder.

Poverty, the lack of opportunities that turns the rustic house into an island of security, and a situation in which survival and reproduction are the only goals, eventually begin to seem normal.

“Eu, tu, eles” was well received at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic last month, winning Regina Casé the award for best actress. The film earned accolades overseas at other festivals as well, including Cannes.

This would seem to indicate that firsthand knowledge of Brazil’s harsh reality is not necessary to enjoy and appreciate the film.

It is a cruel comedy, judging from the laughter at some of the film’s situations and dialogues. It is the urban audience laughing at the innocence and crudeness of the inhabitants of a forgotten Brazil that has no future.

But the movie, the soundtrack of which was composed by Gilberto Gil, also awakens sympathy, especially for Darlene and Zezinho, who are capable of deep affection in the middle of absolute misery.

Darlene represents the poor who have not lost joy, despite the escalation of discouraging conditions in rural Brazil, says Casé.

The northeast, Brazil’s poorest region, continues to be a central theme for the country’s film industry. Last year’s most successful picture, “Central do Brasil” (Central Station), also provided a close look at the region, as the audience follows a boy in his search for his father.

The people of the northeast have migrated to all areas of the country and now make up a large portion of the residents of Brazil’s major cities, like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Their presence influences the urban culture, perhaps contributing to the interest in movies about their home region.