BALD MOUNTAIN
Brazil, 2013, 120 minutes, Colour.
Juliano Cazarre, Julio Andrade, Wagner Moura, Matheus Nachtergaele.
Directed by Heitor Dahlia.
Bald Martin is a very strong Brazilian film – with a tough narrative and tough characters. It is directed by Heitor Dahlia who also directed films internationally, including Gone, with Amanda Siegfried.
This is a story of a gold rush in Brazil, from 1980 to 1984. Thousands of men converged on the mountain, staking out claims, working hard to find the gold, processing it, some making profits, some being victimised, accidents and increasing violence, especially with the entrepreneurs who know how to organise and make deals.
The visuals are very impressive, the sequences on the mountain itself, the slopes, the crevices, and the huge numbers of men climbing the mountain side, in the valleys, covered in mud, always eager for the gold.
The film focuses on two friends from childhood, Juliano and Joaquim – and a very strong screen presence and performance by Juliano Cazarre as Juliano, seen right at the beginning being interrogated by the authorities and under suspicion. His friend from childhood is a schoolteacher with a pregnant wife who is determined to get money to support his family but is caught up in the last four gold, staying, experiencing ups and downs, his friendship with Juliano, betrayals by Juliano, being manipulated by the other wheeler dealers. Juliano, on the other hand, is not afraid to throw his considerable weight around, clashing with some of the other bosses as well as with the click of gay men who are on the goldfields.
The film shows changes over the five years, signalling each year and what was happening, the finding of the gold, people making fortunes, the setting up of a satellite town for drinking, drugs, for prostitution. There is also smuggling of gold out of the mountains by plane, along with shifts in drugs and arms.
The film is a reminder that while there is a lot of earnestness in gold rushes, there is a great deal of rough life, harshness, the testosterone of a male group with its ambitions and hard work, the exploitation of women, men losing their characters with greed and ambitions, willing to gain the whole world and risking the loss of their souls.
1. A piece of contemporary Brazilian history? The 1980s?
2. Bald Mountain, the goldfields, the diggings, the sides of the mountains, the caverns? The makeshift town, dwellings, the sex bar, offices? The contrast with the city and family homes? The musical score?
3. The panoramas of Bald Mountain, the crowd sequences, the workers, on the mountainsides, in the valleys, trudging in the mud, digging, accidents? The feel of the gold rush?
4. Introduction to the themes, the voice-over and the commentary, from the perspective of Joaquim, his perspective on Juliano? Friends since childhood, partners, gold fever? Joaquim and his wife, pregnant, leaving her behind, phone calls, letters, the photo of the child? His ambitions to get money and come back, giving up his role as a teacher?
5. The allotments of the land, the titles, the authorities, the workers, the deals, banding together? Striking gold, the prices, the mechanisms? The beginning of smuggling? And the smugglers with drugs and arms?
6. Juliano and Joaquim, their hard work, success? The deals? Going to the club? Juliano, the encounter with Tereza, her being with Lindo Rico?
7. The opening, the interrogation of Juliano, the film in flashback, his presence, big and strong, fights and clashes, relationship with Tereza, the clashes with Lindo Rico? The hairdresser, the gay men and their presence on the fields? The violence and knives? Juliano, success, business accounts, shady? The confrontation with Lindo, the wedding and his being killed?
8. The rival businessman, wanting to own land? The approach to Joaquim, his clashes with Juliano? His decision to leave, to take the money, after his success? On the road, the cars blocking him, his being robbed? Blaming Juliano?
9. The irony of his being set up, the other owner, hitting him to betray Juliano? Possibilities for getting more money? His injuries, recovery? Finally going home, his wife waiting for him, the delight in his daughter?
10. Juliano, being interrogated, the consequences?
11. The picture of the men, the harsh backgrounds, the tough work, bonding, the women on the goldfields, the town, prostitution? The bosses, business deals, agreed? Betrayals?
12. A glimpse of Bald Mountain from 1980 to 1984?
