Rare are the documentaries able to convey the mineral, human and animal elements of a territory without giving the impression of a superficially aesthetic, if not blatantly touristy, view. However, Marcos Pimentel and his director of photography, Rocha, certainly have no trouble in bringing back magnificent images of the natural beauty of the mountains in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais – images strengthened by the contrast between the simple village they film and the unusual nature of the rock formations, between the fragility of human acts and the power of the elements, and by the tension between the utilitarian exploitation of cattle and the noble activity of livestock farming. But Sopro, with no voiceover and almost no dialogues, deploys the “essence” of this existence without turning it into an model lifestyle. The editing creates not only perfect rhythm but also associations giving a strong cohesiveness. In an approach that recalls the work of Eugenio Polgovsky in Mexico (The Inheritors, released in 2011), the composition of each shot and the equation of matter, form and moments of life bring together childhood and old age, life and death in what seems to be cyclical time.
C.G.
