Brasil S/A

Brazilian sugar-cane harvesters which transform themselves into astronauts to save their nation. Monumental excavators that dance ballet to opulent orchestral music. The national flag of Brazil triumphantly hoisted high on a gigantic building crane in the heavens above the skyscrapers...
Brasil S/A – Brazil Inc. – is an Eldorado for the eyes and ears: bodies, machines and landscapes in heroic movement. Choreographies of a brave new world in which the sun always shines. Instead of individual plot threads, director Marcelo Pedroso creates thrilling images of a country of superlatives unwaveringly committed to a belief in progress and success. Individual images whose impressive assembly suddenly makes them seem not only cheerful and lovely but also chillingly monstrous – turning the thrill into a hangover. Pedroso's editing room is a rugged assembly hall in the factory complex of Brazil Inc., where the images themselves are turned into powerful tools in tandem with Pablo Lamar's brilliantly wrought soundtrack. A film without dialogue but with a powerful voice nonetheless, satirically calling into question the promises of progress. (Berlinale)