Saint Bernard

Leon Hirszman's 1972 Brazilian film follows Paulo Honorio, who rises from poor farming to large landholding. The desire to grow richer is the single axis of his life; when his wife Madalena, a teacher, resists his commanding order, the distance between them widens fast. The film shows the relationship not as a love story but as a relation of property. Paulo counts his wife among the things he has acquired and perceives her thinking for herself as a threat. It is adapted from Graciliano Ramos's novel and the telling runs in Paulo's own voice; the narrator is unreliable and the film does not correct him. Othon Bastos leads. The conditions of production under the military regime show in the film's measured language. Who it's for: those who like Brazilian cinema and literary adaptation. Who it's not for: viewers who want to trust the narrator; the film has him tell everything and offers no correction.