AllMovie

Brazilian brothers Renato and Geraldo Santos Pereira direct the period biopic Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory, and Torment. The film is a portrait of the 18th century artist Antonio Francisco Lisboa as played by Mauricio Goncalves. Also known as Aleijadinho, the sculptor, architect, and martyr was originally born the son of a slave. The artist's life is told in flashbacks through a professor's investigation conducted years after his death. Aleijadinho's daughter-in-law (Ruth de Souza) tells stories about his life and career, revealing his struggles with mental illness and disease which ultimately caused his physical disabilities. Even with the disadvantage to his extremities and the trauma involving his wife, Aleijadinho continued to work. Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory, and Torment was screened in the U.S. at the 2002 African Diaspora Film Festival in New York.