The Lion Has Seven Heads

The Lion Has Seven Heads
The Lion Has Seven Heads
	German poster
Directed by	Glauber Rocha
Written by	Glauber Rocha; Gianni Amico
Produced by	Gianni Barcelloni; Claude-Antoine;
Starring	Rada Rassimov; Giulio Brogi; Gabriele Tinti; Jean-Pierre Léaud;
Cinematography	Guido Cosulich
Edited by	Eduardo Escorel; Glauber Rocha
Music by	Baden Powell
Production; companies	Polifilm; Claude Antoine Filmes; Mapa Filmes
Distributed by	Animatógrafo
Release date	1970;
Running time	103 minutes
Countries	France; Italy; Brazil
Language	Portuguese

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

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

Rada Rassimov as Marlene
Giulio Brogi as Pablo
Gabriele Tinti as American Agent
Jean-Pierre Léaud as Preacher
Reinhard Kolldehoff as Governor
Aldo Bixio as Mercenary
Baiack as Zumbi
Hugo Carvana as Portuguese
Pascal N'Zonzi

Reception

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

^ Mendonça, Luís (2012-09-13). "Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças (1970) de Glauber Rocha" (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 2, 2014.
^ "O Leão de Sete Cabeças" (in Portuguese). Cinemateca Brasileira. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
^ 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.

External links

The Lion Has Seven Heads at IMDb

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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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