São Bernardo

A strong esthetic sense and a heartfelt social commitment combined with a well-told story are typical of the late Leon Hirszman's films. "São Bernardo" fits the template: it is an adaptation of an early short novel by Graciliano Ramos (1892-1953), a writer, journalist, and educator whose straightforward, emotionally charged stories of life in the Northeast attracted some of Brazil's best filmmakers. "São Bernardo," which appeared as a novel in 1934, a time of political repression in Brazil, is the name of a large cattle farm whose success is due to the hard work and relentless efforts of Paulo Honório--who was once just a laborer on the estate. The rude, uneducated, strong-minded man, used to getting his own way on everything, decides to find a wife to bring to the remote country estate. He meets a destitute teacher, Madalena, and convinces her and her aunt to come live at São Bernardo. The film recounts the conflict that then ensues between Paulo Honório, who has no intention of allowing change to come to the estate, and Madalena, who sympathizes with the working poor. The underlying thesis is that in his greed for property, money, and power, Paulo Honório has lost his ability to experience a non-economic connection with other human beings.

Hirszman takes the economic, political, and social conflicts in Ramos's story and expresses them in brilliant visual terms, emphasizing the ability of the dramatic countryside and the farm buildings to tell much of the story. The work of Graciliano Ramos can be seen in two other films in this proposed series, both by Nelson Pereira dos Santos: "Vidas Secas / Barren Lives" and "Memórias do Cárcere / Memories of Imprisonment.")

Hirszman, the son of Polish Jews who emigrated to Brazil in the 1930's, was born in 1937 and died in 1987.