Sixteen-oh-sixty

Brazil is a big country which is wrestling with great social problems, most obviously in the enormous slums of the big cities. The speedy industrialization and the uneven distribution of wealth has lead to environmental pollution, criminality and poverty. Against this back drop, the director Vinicius Mainardi serves an in equal parts thought-provoking and brazenly entertaining story. The wealthy businessman Vittorio lives in an exclusive residential district of Sao Paulo together with his wife and abominably spoilt son, Benjamin. Their life is pleasant but stiff and empty. During a nocturnal food-binge, Vittorio successfully stops a break-in by stabbing an unsuccessful thief Jackson Barbosa in the leg with a bread knife. Worried by the event and the wounded Jackson's shout for revenge, Vittorio takes his lawyer's sound advice and lets someone liquidate him in prison. Something he lives to bitterly regret. The bribed prison guards are in such a hurry that they kill Jackson's cell mate Franklin Barbose instead, who was another miserable burglar. To relieve his bad conscience, Vittorio decides to help Franklin's destitute and homeless widow and her three sons. When the oldest son, Washington, becomes seriously ill, Vittorio feels obliged to give them temporary lodgings at his own house, much to his family's horror. From that day on, Vittorio's previously sheltered life becomes increasingly chaotic. Franklin's widow appears quite capable of exploiting the situation and the two other children - Jefferson, who loves to take things apart, and Wilson, who steals everything he sees-love their new home. Furthermore, Eleanor becomes almost infatuated with the youngest Wilson and Benjamin starts to give Franklin's widow improper looks. When the situation begins to look permanent, Vittorio sees his only way out is to plan another murder. Sixteen-oh-sixty is a wonderfully rich story about peoples constant exploitation of the weaknesses of each other; the form being clearly similar to Jim Jarmusch and his likes in North American independent film. As well as being tremendously funny, it is also a bitingly cynical commentary on the social development of Brazilian society. Mainardi effectively plays on class antagonism and prejudice which gives the film a greater depth than many similar films. It's a must for any lover of unusual independent film. FS

Medverkande
Maitê Proênca, Antônio Calloni, Marcelia Cartaxo: Producent
Vinicius & Julia Mainardi: Manus
Diogo Mainardi: Foto
Lito M.R.: Musik
Hilton Raw: Talat språk
Portuguese