Wanted for killing his boss, Manuel (Geraldo del Rey) flees with his wife Rosa (Yoná Magalhães) to the sertão, the barren landscape of Northern Brazil. Thrust into a primordial violent region, Manuel and Rosa come under the influence and control of a series of frightening figures. Sebastiao (Lidio Silva), a fanatic preacher who promises utopia but practices massacre and a band of bandits called Cangaceiros led by Corisco (Othon Bastos). Shuttled between the “Black God” and “White Devil”, Manuel and Rosa’s struggle for survival escalates when Church authorities hire a hitman named Antonio das Mortes (Mauricio do Valle) to hunt down every combatant in the region. 

“An idea in the head and a camera in the hand” was Glauber Rocha’s motto, and every shot in this film displays innovation of thought and control over form. In addition to writing and directing the film, Rocha wrote the folk songs scored by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Sergio Ricardo. Black God White Devil became the banner film of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement. Its artistic achievement, acknowledged by Luis Buñuel and Bernardo Bertolucci, has made it a seminal classic of film history.

The most beautiful thing I have seen in more than a decade, filled with savage poetry Luis Buñuel

Black God White Devil has been voted the greatest Brazilian film of all time...It is visionary cinema at its rawest Uncut Magazine

The fusion of European and Afro-Brazilian elements -- dialogue, exquisite black-and-white images, and music by Villa-Lobos – is startlingly original and poetical in conveying the hope and despair of the oppressed Chicago Reader

It hit Western viewers in 1964 like a clap of thunder Guardian

Dynamic visual feast Variety

A film of real beauty Le Monde

Cast & Credits: Geraldo Del Rey / Yona Magalhaes / Othon Bastos / Mauricio do Valle / Lidio Silva / Sonia Dos Humildes / Joao Gama / Antonio Pinto / Milton Rosa / Roque Santos / Directed: Glauber Rocha

Awards: Cannes Film Festival (1964): Nominated Palme d’Or

Technical: 1964 / 118 minutes / Portuguese with English subtitles / Mono audio / 1.33 : 1 Black & White / DVD PAL Multi Region / MRBDVD010 / Licensed from Grupo Novo Cinema e TV on behalf of the Rocha family.