O tempo e o vento dir. by Jayme Monjardim (review)

O tempo e o vento, authored by the brilliant Érico Veríssimo, is a classic of Brazilian historical literature. Its cinematic adaptation is at once ambitious and risky, and to this end, director Jayme Monjardim does a marvelous job of bringing this epic novel to the big screen. The movie, produced and released in 2013 (and presented with English subtitles as Time and the Wind), poetically depicts the beauty of the southern Brazilian pampas landscape and its cultural symbols. But it leaves out an important representational component: its people. For instance, while the three parts of the novel each introduce unique historical topics related to southern Brazil, the movie is narrated through the perspective of only one major character. If the novel is narrated by the time and the wind, the movie is told through the memories of only Bibiana Terra.

The novel takes place in Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, and spans the colonial period to the early twentieth century. But the movie focuses on the colonial period through the late nineteenth century. It tells of how two rival families in the small city of Santa Fé, the Amarals and the Terra-Cambarás, vie for power and influence. The title of the book, O tempo e o vento, uses the time and the wind metaphorically as important characters in the story. The time and the wind narrate the story poetically, providing the reader with the sensation of the long duration of everyday lives, in which there are instants of unexpected changes as sudden as the wind. The movie, however, lacks this element due to its superficial characters. Sadly, this aspect makes it hard for the audience to empathize with the people of Rio Grande do Sul, who constitute the soul of Veríssimo’s literary masterpiece. In the novel, characters such as Capitão Rodrigo and Ana Terra are symbols of dominance, charisma, and controversial attitudes, adjectives nowhere to be found in the motion picture version.

Like the book, the movie is faithful to the region’s historical background, addressing the most important topics for understanding southern Brazil’s history from the colonial period up to the nineteenth century. The movie touches on the defining roles of themes like the Brazilian frontier and violent intercultural tensions with the Spaniards. The movie also addresses complex Brazilian race relations that derive from a formation of a mixed-blood society. One example is the story of Pedro Missioneiro, an Indian born and raised in the Jesuit missions who witnesses the struggles of the rebel Indian Sepé Tiarajú, who leaves after the Iberian crowns partially destroyed the people of the missions. Pedro meets Ana Terra and her family from São Paulo, who relocated in the Rio Grande of São Pedro after trading with the Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Together, they initiate the Terra family’s trajectory by giving birth to their son Pedro Terra.

Aesthetically speaking, the movie does a great job recreating a strong sense of cultural tradition throughout. For example, its folkloric songs and dances point to the customs and habits of Rio Grande do Sul. Thus symbols, and at times, even details such as the strong gaucho accent are faithfully reproduced. Nonetheless, the experienced soap opera director Monjardim makes use of close-ups too often, and, in so doing, he leads our attention to the weakest points of the movie: its lack of strong characters. Although the cast is composed of a great group of artists, the script narrowed their possibilities. The cinematographic identity of the movie is a rather local one, and it overshadows the essence of the story, which is in its characters. While cinema is a universal experience, Monjardim restricts its visual language to a local and national audience revealed by his aesthetic choices. The director often uses the epic soundtrack to make transitions between the family generations, making the movie a mannerist work piece, and its characters more anecdotal than natural and authentic. The soundtrack and the close-ups ultimately take over the movie...