Fenced In

WHAT SAVES THE Brazilian import film They Don't Wear Black Tie from merely becoming anti-government propaganda is its three-dimensional portrayal of the riveting relationships between members of a small working class community in San Paulo, Brazil.

Victimized by a violent society filled with high-strung, gun-swinging adolescents, the workers try to keep out of the way of clashes between the teenagers and police, but frequently get caught in the middle of the bloody confrontations. Oppressed by a brutal police force which randomly kills first and asks questions later, the workers observe the blatant butchering of innocent citizens knowing that at any time it could be them at the other end of the gun. Manipulated by greedy bosses who refuse to make concessions to their simple requests for more money to enable them to eat their dinner of soup and to live in their hovels, the workers go on strike in desperation only to get clubbed and shot at by the police.

At the core of this film is its unassuming depiction of the simple bonds of affection tying these blue-collar characters together. The wildcat strike of the workers at the local accentuates the flaws in each person's character, prompting old bonds to be severed and new ones to be cemented. At first glimpse, we think that young Tiao will be the hero of the plot; young, eager, hardworking, he makes plans to marry his girlfriend whom he has made pregnant. But his downfall comes when he cannot see the pitfalls of not participating in the impending strike. Instead, he selfishly goes against his father Otavio and walks the picket line of his striking colleagues.

In the process he loses his fiance* Maria, who wants to marry him but refuses to accept his strike-breaking. Participating in the strike demonstrations against Tiao's wishes, Maria gets kicked in the stomach by an undercover company hired hand. We see Maria's blood-covered knees and elbows because she won't compromise her morals for Tiao.

But Tiao's actions hurt his father even more than Maria. Otavio disagrees with the timing of the strike, but goes along with it to show his solidarity with the workers' rights. Shocked by his son's actions to the contrary, we see his poignant realization of his son's misdirection, not cowardice, at the moment Tiao becomes a scab. With the backing of his wife Romana. Otavio kicks Tiao out of the house, preferring to lose his son than shelter a traitor to the worker's cause.

The actors adorn their characters with a modest simplicity; they never try to make them into more than they just are--poor workers beset by circumstances largely out of their control. Gianfrancesco Guarneri as Otavio and Fernanda Montenegro as his wife Romano are magnificent relying frequently on silent movement and glances to display inner turmoil about their son and about their predicament with the strike. One particularly touching moment occurs as the two sit at the kitchen table, silently counting the red beans that will become their dinner. The movements of their languid hands, which grasp each other passionately, show more than pathetic words or violent actions.

We never see the people who wear the black ties and who oversee the oppression and constant violence, but it is not necessary. The detailed cinematography carves out the workers' little existence ranging from the pieced-together sheets for doors and the omnipresence of broken televisions. The characters' lives are not exciting, not unusual, but rather they represent people repeating mundane daily patterns. They desire only a modest financial security.

And above all we are left with an ambiguous ending with little if anything being resolved, the strike is still on. Maira is still pregnant, and the love binding the characters is still strong despite the shocking realization that united action and families' ties are not enough to overcome the wretched people wearing black ties. We don't pity the people but we do hate the invisible system that prevents them from rising.