AMBIGUITIES AND DOUBLE VOICES IN BARRAVENTO

Abstract

Barravento was directed by Glauber Rocha in Brazil in 1962. It constitutes a very significant example of Cinema Novo, an awareness-raising movement in the film industry. It presents a truthful account of cavalla fishermen living on the coast of Bahia. In Barravento, Rocha has tried to convey the real face of Brazilian impoverishment, which formerly was veiled behind the technological facilities in Hollywood-like Brazilian productions. In contrast to these Hollywood-like movies that satisfy the western world’s nostalgia for primitivism and veil the wretchedness of so-called “uncivilized” men, Rocha depicts the sufferings and hunger of the cavalla fishermen while creating a revolutionary message. How-ever, the way he conveys his message leads to controversy, since he presentsCandomblé as both an impediment and a significant cultural value in the cavalla fishing community. Candomblé is an integrated religious tradition that comes from interaction with African Yoruba traditions, Roman Catholicism, and indigenous American traditions. It exerts considerable power and influence over its believers. In Barravento, Candomblé provides the cultural wisdom that de-termines the fate and future of the fishermen. Through his Marxist discourse, Rocha criticizes religion as a drug that discourages the fishermen from facing their real problems. At the same time, he presents Candomblé with respect and dignity. As a result, Barravento offers two contradictory perspectives about Candomblé, producing ambiguities and the coexistence of double voices in the film. This paper deals with the contradicting perspectives of Glauber Rocha and the original scriptwriter, Luiz Paulino Dos Santos, and discusses their aesthetic objectives under the subtitles “Hunger as Aesthetic” and “Religion as Aesthetic”.