Arquivo

Written by Graciliano Ramos, this classic in Brazilian literature was faithfully transposed to the screen by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Barren Lives tells the saga of Fabiano, his wife Sinhá Vitória, two children, and their dog Baleia. Driven by the drought, Fabiano and family traverse the arid semideserts of northeastern Brazil in search of surroundings less harsh, where they may find some means to a living. The parched and barren, inhospitable setting described by Graciliano Ramos is portrayed on film by overexposed photography that renders the film more true in that the excess of white refers the spectator directly to the blazing sun of the hinterland of northeastern Brazil. A survey by the “Folha de São Paulo” newspaper published on March 18, 1999 indicated Barren Lives as the second best Brazilian film of all times, second only to Black God, White Devil, by Glauber Rocha.