Pays : Brésil
Genre : Drame
Durée : 1h50
Date de sortie :
Avec : Dira Paes, Paulo José, Daniel de Oliveira, Cássia Kiss, Juliano Cazarré(...)
Réalisateur : Matheus NACHTERGAELE
Dans une communauté villageoise, sur les bords du fleuve Amazone au Brésil, Santinho fait l’objet d’une fervente dévotion, car on dit qu’il a ressuscité sa mère lorsqu’elle s’est donné la mort, 20 ans auparavant. Un jour, il découvre la robe d’une fillette disparue que l’on présume morte. Il est sanctifié par la population. Depuis lors, le jour de la fête de la petite fille morte est célébré chaque année dans le village. Pourtant, Santinho se retrouve bientôt rongé par le tourment et le doute. Mort et résurrection, béatification et miracle, un voyage au cœur du syncrétisme religieux.
(L'avis exprimé par les rédacteurs de cette rubrique est indépendant du travail et des choix du Jury oecuménique.)
21 mai 2008
For those in search of bizarre stories, here is one that certainly fits the bill.
We spend a day on Brazil’s Negro River with a small community. They are preparing for and then celebrating the 20th feast of the Dead Girl which centres on a young man whom they regard as The Saint. Years earlier, the boy had retrieved only the tattered dress (which is kept as a relic in a shrine) of a girl mauled by a mongrel dog. They considered that her spirit was in The Saint. He is reputed to be able to heal and to tell the future.
This is a picture of religious syncretism in action. While there is a basis in Catholicism, with signs of the cross, statues and devotion, there is also a strong foundation of nature religions of the Amazon, the presence of divine powers in all of nature, which is also echoed in the prayers. While the celebrations have been updated with small rock concert style entertainment, there is a great deal of drinking by the men, and the people still want The Saint to bless them and to reveal something.
However, The Saint himself (who is pampered by his aunt, exploited, even sexually, by his father and criticised by the dead girl’s brother) is a spoilt and petulant character, completely self-absorbed until a visit from his allegedly dead mother disturbs him.
This is not your usual story. The narrative is something of a hodge-podge of incidents but the picture of this community and its religious practices is intriguing.
