(2001)
2.5
Tom Wiener
Perched somewhere between fable and realistic drama, Abril Despedacado manages to be engrossing without fully engaging our sympathies for its characters. While the voiceover of the film's narrator, ten-year-old Pacu (Ravi Ramos Lacerda), insists that his family's life is one of grinding poverty, we're watching beautifully lit and composed shots of their labors that undercut the message. The theme of escape, from both the smothering obligations of family and an isolated rural existence, is nicely illustrated by the brothers Pacu, with the gift book that he can't read, and Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro), with his yearning for the traveling circus acrobat Clara (Flavia Marco Antonio), who in turn is plotting her own escape from a dominating stepfather. The idea that a feud between families (which can be extrapolated to ethnic groups or even nations) takes on a life of its own is underscored when the boys' mother mutters, "In this house, the dead command the living." The film's best touch is a bit of narrative misdirection that leads to a satisfying conclusion to a tale of family honor carried to hateful extremes.
Behind The Sun on AllMovie
Behind The Sun (2001)
