Cerro Negro by João Salaviza

João Salaviza is much more than just one of the most promising Portuguese filmmakers to have appeared in the scene in the last few years. Since he received the short film Palme d´Or in Cannes, in 2009, for his breathtaking portrayal of a young man on home arrest (Arena), he has been frequently pointed out as a turning point and a new beginning in Portuguese cinema.

The pressure of such a title seems to have had little or no impact at all on his latest production, Cerro Negro, which premiered at the Spectrum Short Section of the 41st Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Cerro Negro takes us into the lives of a small immigrant Brazilian family in Lisbon, separated by the imprisonment of the father. While the young child seems oblivious to the situation, both the father and the mother contain their frustration in a zombie like state.

Simple and effective in its structure, the film`s great triumph is in its capacity to set an ambience of quiet desperation that makes the film flow with great beauty even though some of the acting is far from brilliant. Salaviza appears to have achieved a certain maturity and restrain in his process. There are obvious similarities with his earlier success. In many ways Cerro Negro is a natural follow up to Arena. Yet, the film stands on its own as another prelude to all that is expected from the young filmmaker.

by Fernando Vasquez