Barroco; The Jester

Each of these videos, which had limited releases on film, takes an unconventional approach to storytelling. Paul Leduc's (Frida) Barroco, although virtually a wordless film, is actually the more accessible of the two. Inspired by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier's Concierto Barroco, Leduc's film is a visual and aural extravaganza which relates the history of Latin America in purely cinematic and musical terms. Separated into "movements," the film opens with actor Francisco Rabal sitting in a gorgeous room filled with luminous artifacts. Rabal turns the page of a composition book and the "Andante" begins: Spanish conquistadors and priests arrive in the "new world" and are both enamored and shocked by what they find--highly refined art and music in a primitive culture that is also characterized by pagan rituals and mysticism. "Contradanza," the second movement, finds the melting pot approaching the boiling point, as colonial Spanish rulers clash with the native Indians and imported African slaves. In the "Rondo," revolution has changed the social and political landscape, which is reflected in the music (Leduc cleverly offers us Mozart with a Cuban drum beat setting the rhythm). And, in the "Finale," we see Rabal, the wordless narrator/protagonist watching a "play," which is sort of a mock parody of the cycles of strife and merging between the peoples which the film has so remarkably demonstrated. Obviously, Barroco is not going to appeal to everyone. However, the adventurous videophile with an appreciation for extraordinary cinematography and a boldly original vision will find much to appreciate here. Jose Alvaro Morais' first feature film The Jester (O Bobo), on the other hand, is a relentlessly complex pastiche of Portuguese history, the modern stage, a soap opera, and a thriller. As the film opens, the subtitles appear so quickly that one needs to rewind and pause in order to read them. When the viewer is finally adjusted to the breakneck pace of the dialogue, the tripartite structure of the story begins to emerge. Francisco (Fernando Heiter) and his girlfriend Rita (Paula Geddes) are reminiscing in flashback about the events leading up to the death of their mutual friend Joao (Luis Lucas). Eventually, we begin to understand that Joao is involved in some kind of arms deal in order to raise money for Francisco's stage production of Alexandre Herculano's 19th-century novel The Jester. The "play," set in the 12th-century follows the political and romantic machinations which eventually led to the establishment of the Portuguese monarchy. Interestingly, the "plot" of the play resounds throughout the troubled relationship between the three modern-day principals. Although the storyline is less linear than pretzel-shaped, The Jester features some absolutely striking camera shots and innovative editing. Neither Barroco nor The Jester will make it into the mainstream video pipeline--and neither, to be honest, would flourish if they did. Yet, there is an audience for both of these--in their own way--remarkable films. Recommended for university libraries and public libraries with large foreign film collections. (R. Pitman)