The Villas-Bôas brothers find more than they bargained for in Cao Hamburger’s XINGU
XINGU (Cao Hamburger, 2012)
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
Opens Friday, March 14
212-924-3363
www.cinemavillage.com
In 1943, brothers Orlando (Felipe Camargo), Cláudio (João Miguel), and Leonardo Villas-Bôas (Caio Blat) posed as uneducated peasants known as peons in order to get extremely low-paying jobs working on an expedition into the untamed lands of Central Brazil along the Xingu River. They were looking for excitement and adventure, and over the course of twenty years they ended up finding more than they ever could have imagined. Their story is told in Cao Hamburger’s (The Year My Parents Went on Vacation) award-winning festival favorite Xingu, which follows the three twentysomethings as they make first contact with the indigenous peoples of these regions, tribes that have never seen the white man before. As the close siblings make friends with the men, women, and children in the Xingu villages, the Brazilian government keeps asking for more and more out of the brothers, wanting them to push out the Indians so they can set up airstrips and military bases. Orlando, Cláudio, and Leonardo are suddenly in a difficult position, understanding that they are both “the poison and the antidote,” trying to protect the cultural heritage of these Native Brazilians while their bosses are breaking promise after promise. Produced by Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener), Xingu is heartfelt if overwrought, both exciting and plodding as the brothers find their place in the world while attempting to help the indigenous Xingu peoples maintain theirs in a changing Brazil. The film explores aspects of colonialism, manifest destiny, deforestation, racism, and discrimination that are still relevant today, in Brazil, the United States, and around the globe. The beautifully shot film also delves into the inherent importance of preserving cultural heritage in the face of technological change and militarism. Xingu can get overly sincere, but it also tells a story that needs to be told.