In 2013, the military police of the Brazilian Federal District initiated a large operation against drug traffic in the peripheral city of Ceilândia, dismantling a series of illegal networks and arresting sixteen men.
Set in 2013, “Dry Ground Burning” is a Brazilian film that is as radical as they get. During filming, the cast and crew formed a political party, the People’s Prison Party, to give a voice to the current and former incarcerated masses.
Despite being set during Bolsonaro’s recent reign, it contains post-apocalyptic sensibilities. These are showcased through limited resources being battled over, long convoys of rugged vehicles being shepherded over rural roads and an overall fragile state of existence. Various critics have signaled “Dry Ground Burning” to be a marker for a feminist reworking of “Mad Max.” I can slightly see that, but I mainly see “The Terminator” with its ’80s and ’90s analog mise-en-scène.
Although more than just words are undertaken for the underrepresented prison population, “Dry Ground Burning” also contains rap songs protesting the Bolsonaro regime and the increasing carceral state. These songs – which make up a solid soundtrack – sometimes play for several minutes. These extended scenes organically flow, letting the film breathe and exist. This naturalistic approach recalls Andrea Arnold’s masterpiece “American Honey,” where wayward youths traveled across a deteriorating landscape while listening to some of the best music ever put to screen.
By and by, Brazilian filmmakers have been consistently pumping out some of the most revolutionary films (see my previous review of “Property”). And here, with the feminist gang seizing the means of production while usurping local state control, is nothing short of a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary tactic.
Its opening images are baptized by fire and fantastic lighting. The cinematography sometimes recalls Roger Deakin’s work on “No Country for Old Men.” Through a limited use of natural light, the camera’s perspective dwarves characters amongst the vast landscape. Co-directed by Adirley Queriós and Joana Pimenta, the pair utilize cinematic flair crossed with vérité framing, all against an ebb and flow of immediacy. The absence of dialog for periods shows this directing duo is competent and confident in their craft. Interestingly, the cinematographer inverts colors at night by highlighting yellows outlined with blues.
The main character, Chitara, runs a gang of women and kills a rival encroaching on their territory within the first ten minutes. The gang has seized an oil pipeline and make money turning the Texas Tea into gasoline for a full profit. Chitara has been inspired by a local legend, having started the pipeline siphoning business. Chitara’s sister Lèa (Lèa Alves Silva) is introduced smoking a cigarette with large, expressive eyes and details her recent prison stint. She doesn’t recognize her old neighborhood of Sol Nascente, now occupied by militant police, and is upset by the sight of a new prison being built.
The two sisters harness a different approach to their communal gatherings and interests. Like when Lèa is worshipping in a church – cleverly juxtaposed by failing infrastructure – Chitara is on a party bus full of women dancing to rap. They come from different mothers, and their father has disappeared. Yet, this lack of patriarchal support has unified this sisterhood into a radicalized bond.
Meanwhile, as the sisters grow their gasoline empire, an armored truck filled with murderous militants is heading their way. The filmmakers showcase gallows humor by playing happy-go-lucky music while the well-armed men make their way down. The seemingly brainwashed militants do not converse; they only repeat mottos like, “Brazil and faith, above everyone and everything.”
With the film’s pace shifting from languid to urgent, it mostly succeeds. There are a lot of moments focused on Lèa smoking a cigarette and reflecting. At times, “Dry Ground Burning” morphs into a hang-out film with a political purpose. A scene displaying dead trees makes them look like some boneyard fossilize like some prehistoric era. The clear-cutting of the Amazon rainforest for the logging industry under Bolsonaro’s regime was massive. The good news is Lula is back in charge of Brazil and has already reversed several of Bolsonaro’s harmful policies.
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