"Lucas da Feira" (The Movie): when a low budget isn't the problem.

Once again I surrendered to the mysteries of the unknown. I entered the dark movie theater without any expectation beyond that which every lover of the seventh art carries: to be transformed by an experience. It turns out there are transformations and... transformations.

I'm a self-confessed amateur film enthusiast. I value improvised aesthetics, the rebelliousness of imperfect sound, the rawness. The underground in the crudest sense of the word, the kind made with sweat, courage, and few resources—it has fascinated me for a long time. It was with this spirit that I watched... Lucas from the FairBut I confess: the experience I had went far beyond what can be attributed to the "low budget." The problem was, and is, something else. It's not the scarcity of audiovisual resources that compromises the film. Nor the forced acting or the inconsistent costumes. The central flaw lies in the attempt to tell a story without narrative logic, without symbolic cohesion, and without commitment to the historical figure it proposes to portray. Lucas from the FairThe title character is reduced to a wandering fellow, a compulsive sucker of tropical fruits, whose narrative function seems to be merely to fill footage with sucking on oranges, biting into cashews, and peeling tangerines.

For over 80% of the film, we see a protagonist and supporting characters wandering among trees with vacant stares, lacking depth and purpose. And when the film finally decides to sketch out some kind of dramatic conflict, it's too late: the caricature has already been drawn and painted with permanent ink.

What follows is a parade of chaotic framing, wide shots that communicate nothing, cuts that also test the viewer's patience, and takes that look more like rehearsals. The cinematography, at times promising, founders under indecisive direction and disjointed editing that fails to stitch together even the simplest scenes.

The frustration grows because the source material is powerful. Lucas da Feira's trajectory as a symbol of Black and Quilombola resistance in 19th-century Brazil offers a rich universe of interpretations, emotions, and confrontations. But the film deliberately chooses the path of trivialization. What could have been a decolonial narrative becomes a disjointed mosaic, lacking historical framework or symbolic construction.

The dialogue is full of contemporary clichés, completely detached from the historical context. In one of the most shocking moments, a plantation owner, at the very beginning of the 19th century, pulls out a semi-automatic pistol with a magazine, a model that would only appear many decades later. If it were just a production slip-up, it might go unnoticed. But this anachronism is symptomatic of something bigger: inattention, negligence regarding narrative and historiographical rigor.

As a historian, I must emphasize that this work not only contains errors, but also adopts a negligent stance towards what Lucas da Feira represents. The minimum pact that all historical fiction should make with memory and respect for the struggles of the past is broken here—and the attentive (or not) viewer feels the impact.

The soundtrack, in turn, also attempts to convey a certain intensity, but at various moments it resembles breaking news vignettes more than an immersive composition. Tony Maravilha's performance oscillates between apathy and unintentionally comical—which, combined with a lack of stage direction, contributes to the film's failure.

That being said, it's important to reiterate: this critique is not against trash aesthetics, independent production, or films made in the heat of the moment. On the contrary, in my experience curating the Cine Horror Festival, I've seen works that, even with very limited resources, construct rich and provocative universes. But there's a fundamental difference between audacity and carelessness, and Lucas from the Fair It slips badly into second place.

The supporting characters don't help to salvage the tone. The baroness, for example, seems like a Mexican soap opera villain with an uncertain accent and caricatured mannerisms. It's a showcase of stereotypes and poorly resolved improvisations.

From a historiographical perspective, the film does a disservice. It distorts the fundamental traits of the historical figure it claims to portray and, even more seriously, attributes morally reprehensible conduct to him in a haphazard/random manner. What becomes evident in certain passages is the association with Lucas da Feira. And it is with this mark that the protagonist remains until the end credits. This, from an ethical point of view, is unforgivable.

In the realm of public debate, the work also fails. It could have generated reflection, stirred memories, and contributed to the recognition of Black resistance in Brazil. But instead, it plunges into a spiral of narrative incoherence, questionable visual choices, and conclusions that irresponsibly deconstruct any possibility of historical empathy.

The final 15 minutes deserve special mention: in attempting to create a kind of "undocumentary," the film even abandons its narrative pretensions. The viewer is called upon to judge the protagonist's actions without having been given any consistent context throughout the film. It's as if "doublethink"—a concept dear to denialists and obscurantists—guides the final proposition. The work chooses to antagonize the historical figure with touches of symbolic cruelty.

Upon leaving the room, I was left with the feeling that I had witnessed a project that, however well-intentioned it may have been in its genesis, failed in its development, its discourse, and its commitment to history.

If the intention was to provoke reflection, it succeeded. But perhaps not in the way its creators imagined.

ORIGINAL TITLELucas da Feira | Year of Production 2025 | Brazil

DIRECTIONAderaldo Miranda and Joél Áuves

RouteAderaldo Miranda and Joél Áuves

CASTTony Maravilha, Flaviano Oliveira, Joselito Conceição, Camila Gama, Aline Bastos, Meire Vinhas.

PRODUCERSTudão Produção and Iau Productions

DURATION: 73 min

SYNOPSIS: 

In a colonial Brazil marked by slavery, a man refuses to live on his knees. Lucas from the Fair It tells the story of a son of enslaved people who, raised by a priest, rebels against a brutal system, becoming a legend in the forests of Bahia. For some, an outlaw. For others, a hero of freedom.