# The essential films of Cinema Novo

'A camera in hand and an idea in the head': from Rio, 40 Degrees, which paved the way, to Barren Lives, Black God, White Devil, Entranced Earth and Macunaíma, the films that defined the movement.

- 38 votes · 15 items
- Mar 1, 2020 · Rodrigo Vieira
- https://even.best/en/l/4526/the-essential-films-of-cinema-novo

## Top 15

1. **Entranced Earth (1967)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Glauber Rocha. A poet and journalist among the politicians of an imaginary country, Eldorado.
2. **The Guns (1964)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Ruy Guerra. Soldiers guard a food store in a starving town. Silver Bear at Berlin.
3. **Black God, White Devil (1964)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Glauber Rocha. A cowherd caught between a holy man and a bandit in the backlands. First in Folha's 1999 poll.
4. **Barren Lives (1963)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Nelson Pereira dos Santos. A migrant family in the drought, from Graciliano Ramos's novel.
5. **Macunaíma (1969)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Joaquim Pedro de Andrade. Mário de Andrade's hero with no character, with Grande Otelo.
6. **Barravento (1962)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Glauber Rocha. The director's debut, in a Bahian fishing village.
7. **Cinco Vezes Favela (1962)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Five shorts on life in Rio's favelas, by Leon Hirszman, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Cacá Diegues and others.
8. **Rio, 40 Degrees (1955)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Five boys selling peanuts across Rio; the movement's forerunner.
9. **Ganga Zumba (1963)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Cacá Diegues. Slaves who escape to the Quilombo dos Palmares.
10. **How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Nelson Pereira dos Santos. A Frenchman held captive by the Tupinambá in the 16th century.
11. **São Bernardo (1972)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Leon Hirszman. A landowner obsessed with possession, from Graciliano Ramos's novel.
12. **Antonio das Mortes (1969)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Glauber Rocha. The return of Antônio das Mortes. Best director at Cannes.
13. **The Unscrupulous Ones (1962)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Ruy Guerra. Two hustlers and a blackmail plot on a deserted beach.
14. **The Heirs (1969)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Cacá Diegues. Forty years of Brazilian politics through one family.
15. **O Desafio (1965)** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Paulo César Saraceni. A journalist and his wealthy lover after the 1964 coup.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.