The Wrung-Out Man

João Batista de Andrade's 1980 Brazilian film follows Deraldo, a popular poet who comes to São Paulo from the northeast. He makes his living selling pamphlets of verse in the street; mistaken for a worker who killed his boss at a ceremony, he is hunted by the police. The idea is that a migrant worker is treated in the city as interchangeable: nobody distinguishes faces, and Deraldo spends the film dealing with everyone taking him for someone else. It was made under the military dictatorship and addresses labour directly. José Dumont's performance carries it. Because the director came from documentary, the street scenes are real. Who it's for: viewers interested in Brazilian cinema and films about work. Who it's not for: anyone wanting pace, or who would rather not watch without the political context.