Director: Joaquim Pedro de Andrade
Writer: Joaquim Pedro de Andrade
Actor(s): Lima Duarte, Jofre Soares, Carmen Silva, Wilza Carla, Cristina Aché, Itala Nandi, Carlos Gregório
Production Co.: VideoFilmes
Country: Brazil
Year: 1976
Language and subtitle information: In Portuguese; optional English, Spanish, or French subtitles
Format: DVD
[ratings]
Summary: A genially humorous collection of stories which run parallel, get crossed or simply follow one another and which portray various citizens of the provincial city of Curitiba, a sinister and timid young man, a gallant lawyer, a old couple. As the director explains, the film affirms the possibility of redemption through an excess of sin.
Supplemental Materials:
This film, based on the stories of Dalton Trevisan, follows independent stories with the common theme of power dynamics and eroticism. In each scene, we see a different set of power dynamics at play. Through humor and violence, we are afforded a lens into the lives of people from different socioeconomic classes, with different jobs etc. I think what is really neat about this movie is how although we see people in specific instances, the themes at play are representative of a whole society.
The film ‘Guerra conjugal’ paints a picture of life in Curitiba, Brazil through the eyes of several different characters, young and old, single and married, faithful and not so faithful, that are in constant motion with the ultimate goal often being sex. This film clearly portrays the machista social code of the time as the men hold the power and the women frequently serve as nothing more than an object of pleasure for the men. No women hold positions of honor or power in the community and their sole purpose is often displayed as serving the men, frequently shared by other women as well. The sex trumps everything else as age and physique go out the window and young men choose much older women and obese women are occasionally prized by younger men. The ultimate chaos of a community seemingly enveloped by sex is portrayed as cheating and violence and liberation at the sight of an old woman’s “loved one” dying come into play.
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“Guerra conjugal” translates to marital war. The film covers a variety of relationships between men and women – marriages, affairs, interactions with sex workers, etc. It shows instances of men and women using their sexuality to get what they desire. Power is not something that is tied to a specific sex, but rather, something associated with whomever had control in a given situation. While the film was difficult to follow sometimes, it is clear that it is a social commentary that looks at the behaviors of human beings’ (from various social and economic backgrounds) responses to control over their own bodies and those of others.
“Guerra Conjugal” is a film released in 1974 as an adaptation of the tales of Dalton Trevisan. Several stories are portrayed throughout the movie, with a hate-filled couple as the common thread between each. With a backdrop of Curitiba, Brazil, the drama within each story revolves around sex. The film blurs the line of what traditional sex or sexual partners typically are and creates for a comical situation. From an elderly married couple to virgins, the entertainment within each still shines through from behind a mixture of sin and sexual excess.