As Três Marias (Three Marias) is about as theatrical as a film can be without confining itself to a stage. Creative director Alusio Abranches, responding to the script by Heitor Dhalia and Wilson Freire, has elected to film this story of gory murder and revenge incorporating screen visuals that transport the contemporary setting into the realm of magical realism. And it works very well - if the viewer is willing to sacrifice linear storytelling to the metaphor-laden technique.
The film begins with an extended silent view of a man and a woman in conversation beneath a bizarre rock formation: Firmino Santos Guerra (Carlos Vereza) is obviously trying to talk Filomena Capadocio (Marieta Severo) into not leaving him. Jump forward in time and the murders of three men are enacted in the most grisly of manners - one is hanged by his own intestines, on has his eyes and heart torn out, and one is burned to death - all under the familial guidance of the Santos Guerra family. The deaths represent the husband and two sons of Filomena and when she is told of the events, she stifles her tears with building hate and calls her three daughters to her home - Maria Francisca (Julia Lemmertz) Maria Rosa (Maria Luisa Mendonca), and Maria Pia (Luiza Mariani). Each daughter is given the obligation to hire a hit-man to deliver the head of Firmino to Filomena. The story then proceeds to show the engaging of Chief Tenorio (Tuca Andrada) bitten by a rabid dog, Ze das Cobras (Enrique Diaz) who never has spoken with a woman and uses a 'translator' Catrevagem (Lazaro Ramos) to communicate, and imprisoned murderer Jesusino Cruz (Wagner Moura) whose protocol for killing is always to cut his victims in half. With this trio of hit men the three Marias set out to accomplish their mother's vengeance and how this plays out is the essence of the film.
Shot in stark colors and contrasts and accompanied by an operatic music score, the film succeeds as a mood piece. The actors are all quite fine despite the fact they are playing archetypes rather than credible human beings. For a heavy dose of excellent Brazilian classical theater this film is sure to please. Grady Harp
