The Lion Has Seven Heads

The Lion Has Seven Heads
German poster
Directed byGlauber Rocha
Written byGlauber Rocha
Gianni Amico
Produced by
  • Gianni Barcelloni
  • Claude-Antoine
Starring
CinematographyGuido Cosulich
Edited byEduardo Escorel
Glauber Rocha
Music byBaden Powell
Production
companies
Polifilm
Claude Antoine Filmes
Mapa Filmes
Distributed byAnimatógrafo
Release date
  • 1970 (1970)
Running time
103 minutes
CountriesFrance
Italy
Brazil
LanguagePortuguese

The Lion Has Seven Heads (original title:Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças) is a 1970 French-Italian-Brazilian film directed by Glauber Rocha. It was shot on location in Brazzaville, the Congo during the time Rocha was exiled.[1][2]

Plot

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In the late 1960s, a white preacher in Africa announces the world is due to end soon as he has captured an emissary of the devil. Rather than an emissary, the man is a Latin American revolutionary who supports the local liberation movement. The man escapes from the preacher and contacts a local liberation leader and offers him assistance in the local's fight against Imperialism.

Cast

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Reception

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Film critic Peter Bradshaw, in his 2023 review for The Guardian, rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as "an avant-gardist adventure that offers us a theatre of absurdity and a theatre of cruelty of an obviously Godardian sort." He compares Rocha's cinematic style to that of Jean-Luc Godard, noting Rocha's adeptness with composition and camera movement. Bradshaw critiques the film's portrayal of colonial themes, mentioning its use of the character Marlene as a symbol of colonial desire and the representation of Congolese locals, stating, "The use of the local people in this film is something else that jars a little now in its not-so-subtle condescension." Despite its flaws, he acknowledges the film's historical significance, noting its engagement with revolutionary ideas: "The Lion Has Seven Heads has its own fierce, mad conviction, a bad dream being reconstructed by actors after the event – and the film itself has historical value."[3]

References

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  1. ^ Mendonça, Luís (2012-09-13). "Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças (1970) de Glauber Rocha" (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  2. ^ "O Leão de Sete Cabeças" (in Portuguese). Cinemateca Brasileira. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  3. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (2023-02-20). "The Lion Has Seven Heads review – a fierce revolutionary leftist bad dream from 1970". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
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