O SILÊNCIO DE DOLORES
O SILÊNCIO DE DOLORES
“O Silêncio de Dolores” (The silence of Dolores) takes place in Rio Doce Valley region, backwoods of Minas Gerais. The small village of Cuieté Velho is cut through a railroad that used to run the production of iron ore for exportation. Colonel Antônio Peçanha has two families, one with his official wife and the other with a mistress. This situation is known by the local population, but there are no comments about it, there’s a silence commonly agreed due to the relations of power of the colonel. The mistress, Maria Alice, lives in a piece of Peçanha’s land, with two children. The representative of a mining company insists on buying the land where she lives and provokes an economic and passionate conflict at the same time. Peçanha hires a hitman to kill Maria Alice, but shortly after, suddenly dies. The assassin, Crispim, arrives in town and looks for the widow, Dolores. At the funeral, Crispim asks the widow if he should or shouldn’t complete the service that he had been hired and paid for. While Dolores doesn’t answer, the presence of the assassin in town provokes a series of tensions that disturb the structures of power of that place.
"O silêncio de Dolores" approaches traces of archaic Brazil that endure until today, in which many conflicts are still solved in a violent manner, in violation of the law.
CREDITS
Direction and Screenplay Rodrigo Siqueira
O Silêncio de Dolores is the first fiction film by the Brazilian director who has become notorious for producing creative documentary films. Among his productions are: the documentary adaptation of the Orestia (2015) tragedy, by Ésquilo, to the Brazilian reality; and the awarded Terra deu terra come (2010) – It’s All True, Dok Leipzig – a documental fantasy about dialectal remnants and funeral traditions of African slaves in Brazil.