Cinema: Graciano and Agualusa in honor of Ruy Duarte de Carvalho, the Portuguese who fell in love with Africa
QWhen the film begins, what we see is the Namib Desert, in Angola, with the imposing dryness of its rocks. The camera is at a high point and below there is a jeep, a nearby tent and a black man sitting on a mat some distance away. It’s morning, a man comes out of the tent and addresses the other. The point of view changes, the camera is now at the level of the characters and follows their movements. The man sitting on the ground performs his morning ablutions in a basin of water and we don’t even wonder where he got it from in that aridity because the first shots are constructed as something that surpasses realism, given the arrogance of the setting. Furthermore: when we see the first dialogues, the ‘naturalistic’ absence of the shot/reverse shot becomes evident (if I saw correctly, there is none in the 136 minutes that the film lasts; nor is there any drone shot, that unhealthy crutch of those who are lazy in language). And then the existence of some ‘English papers’ that the white man is in demand is introduced, perhaps a treasure in prospect. Does anyone believe that he walked into the desert just to study nomadic shepherds? But the treasure will not be diamonds, gold or mercury, the voice of the protagonist — Ruy Duarte de Carvalho — warns. What will it be, after all?
