From the producers of the gripping Brazilian favela drama City of God comes this fine historical drama about the Villas-Bôas brothers' quest to protect and preserve the native Indian tribes of Brazil's remote Amazon Rainforest. Set in the early 1940s, Xingu centers on the movement known as the “march to the West,” which saw white explorers traversing previously untouched parts of the Amazon and confronting the indigenous peoples for the first time. But, as director Cao Hamburger's convincing portrait of the work of the Villas-Bôas brothers—Orlando (Felipe Camarago), Cláudio (João Miguel), and Leonardo (Caio Blat)—illustrates, it's one thing to befriend the indigenous natives, but quite another to keep them free from the damaging influence of civilization. After an initially tense confrontation with the Indian tribes, the Villas-Bôas expedition quickly runs into trouble: no sooner does one of the members catch the flu than an epidemic outbreak occurs among the Indian tribes, eventually taking the life of the tribal leader. Eventually (and inevitably), powerful white property developers get wind of the potentially valuable land that the Indians possess, and soon after there are “mysterious” mass killings of indigenous tribesmen and women. The Villas-Bôas brothers then become determined to carve out a reservation of sorts for the native Indians. By turns harrowing and inspiring, the story of the Villas-Bôas and their fight to save the native South American Indians is told with a bracingly gritty elegance and humanistic touch. Highly recommended. (M. Sandlin)
Xingu
Breaking Glass, 103 min., in Portuguese w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $21.99 Volume 30, Issue 1
Xingu
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