User Reviews

Don't look for the brilliant revolutionary prose of Guimarães Rosa's novel "Campo Geral" in Sandra Kogut's "Mutum". Kogut dropped the impossible task of making a "faithful" adaptation of the unfilmable book, and wisely opted for a sort of " visual translation": instead of having the mostly non- professional cast (the only exception is pro João Miguel as the father) speak Rosa's highly stylized vernacular (it would sound horribly phony on screen), Kogut minimizes and simplifies dialog to concentrate on atmosphere. The images and sounds are so "palpable" the film becomes an impressionist, almost tactile experience: we can "feel" the dust, the hot sun, the sudden windstorms, and even seem to smell the scent of the heavy rain, of the horses and chickens.

We follow the coming of age of 9 year-old Thiago (originally named Miguilim in Rosa's novel), a sensitive, quiet boy living with his family in a humble, isolated farm in the back land of Minas Gerais (Southeast Brazil). Thiago's simple joys -- laughing at his parrot, playing with his siblings, contemplating nature -- become threatened by a series of events he can't understand: something seems to be going on between his mother and his uncle (his father's brother); Thiago's hard-working, no-nonsense father resents him for being "weird" (too sensitive) and makes him work in the fields, though Thiago's frail arms can hardly lift the shovel. Thiago's world is in shambles after the sudden illness and death of his adorable younger brother Felipe, filling him with guilt, anguish and grief.

Grand winner at Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival 2007, "Mutum" has major assets: it's a triumphant fiction debut for documaker Kogut, who mixes improvised and rehearsed scenes seamlessly and has her non-professional cast dive head-first into the difficult emotional scenes, with the two boys playing Thiago and Felipe immediately winning our hearts (the controversial work of omnipresent acting coach Fátima Toledo is flawless this time). Mauro Pinheiro's cinematography is as unaffected and richly textured as his work in "Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus", and the film's pace is thankfully unhurried. Kogut's decision not to use background music is possibly her wisest move: we're never "told" what to feel, and the huge wealth of natural sounds makes us feel right there in that isolated, timeless piece of land.

Perhaps the last 10 minutes aren't quite on the same level of what's come before; the denouement feels rather blunt, as Thiago's life is changed when he casually finds out he's shortsighted (and that works on both literal and metaphorical levels). Anyway, in its delicate, unpretentious, impressionistic simplicity, "Mutum" is a gem of understated beauty and exhilarating grace, if only to give us a break from the exhausting, exhibitionist, empty hyperactivity of most of the contemporary film-making styles.

In the rural countryside of Brazil, the boy Thiago lives in a simple house in an isolated area with his brutal but hardworking father; his submissive mother; his comrade uncle; his grandmother and his four siblings. Along the days, he witnesses an intense quarrel when his father accuses his mother of betrayal; later his grandmother expelling his uncle from home. When his brother Felipe hurts his foot, he gets sick without medication and dies. Then his uncle tells him that his father has killed a neighbor in an argument and now he is hidden in the country. Finally Thiago moves to the big city with a doctor to get education and a pair of glasses.

"Mutum" is a coming of age timeless story seen through the eyes of a child. In this regard, the work of the director Sandra Kogut and the boy Thiago da Silva Mariz are perfect. However, the slow-paced story is also pointless and quite boring since the screenplay writer seems to have forgotten that a movie needs to follow a minimum structure with a plot point to keep the attention of the viewers. The movie uses non- professional actors and actresses (I believe only João Miguel and Rômulo Braga are actors); therefore the director explores the expressions of the young cast instead of lines and the "soundtrack" of the nature in the countryside. Further, the location is not informed but in accordance with persons that read the Guinarães Rosa's novel, it is in the back land of Minas Gerais. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mutum"

This moving film tells a story of a boy who loves his family unconditionally. His father does not treat him well, his best friend, a dog named Rebecca is taken away without any explanations, his brother is just let die of something that nobody puts much effort in to figure out, his mother at the end gives him away to the stranger, who might be a faraway city doctor and who finds out that the boy has a bad vision. Thiago puts on the glasses the man gave him and for the last time looks around the area he grew up at and his poor family. As in every good movie the story leaves it up to us to figure his further life. In my version he turns into an educated and adventures young man, but the caring and loving child still remains in him till the rest of his life. but as we all know the world is not that perfect and horror of reality keeps me worried about the character.

Highly recommend to watch it. The movie is based on pure child perception and emotion. no unnecessary talks, no extra characters, no music...A+

An interesting film about a subsistence farming family in a remote part in Brazil.

The father is a tyrant and focuses much of his frustration on his son Thiago. To complicate things it is clear that Thiago has greater affinity for his uncle (his father's brother) than his father. It is also suggested that his uncle and mother has an affair in the quiet.

Thiago is forced to leave home during one of his father's violent bouts of aggression and with the help of a kind doctor (who discovered the boy's poor eyesight), he starts a new life in another part of the country.

Acting by the young protagonist Thiago da Silva Mariz is outstanding, and the best I have seen in a young actor in quite a while. Cinematography is spot-on too, particularly the indoor shots and landscape scenes around the dusty backyard. Poignant music score too. My only gripe is that the film becomes somewhat too sentimental at times, but that does not detract much from the enjoyment of this fine film. 7.5/10.