O Heroi (The Hero) 2005
Distributed by California Newsreel, Order Dept., PO Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; 877-811-7495 (toll free)
Produced by Fernando Vendrell
Directed by Zézé Gamboa
VHS, color, 97 min.
Sr. High - Adult
African Studies
Date Entered: 09/11/2006
Reviewed by Gerald Notaro, University Librarian, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, University of South Florida, St. PetersburgO Heroi is a mediocre film with an impressive pedigree. Since its release in 2004, it has won major prizes at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival, the Nantes Three Continents Festival, and the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film is a story of the African nation of Angola, specifically the city Luanda, after the war of independence from Portugal, and the ensuing civil war. Vitorio, a bright young student joins the army at 15 and fights for 20 year before losing a leg in battle. When he finally receives his prosthesis, he learns that the returning soldiers are not greeted as heroes, with respect, but must fight for jobs, food, and housing along with all the refugees. The drama involves the country and Vitoria both beginning anew.
The director, Zeze Gamboa, states he has tried to find a universal theme with his storytelling. The problem with so much of the look and feel of O Heroi is that it comes off as generic, or worse, Hollywood. The characters’ struggles could be anyone’s, but they become uninteresting and distilled in the settings. Ultimately the plot borders on melodrama, or 1970’s television docudrama. Laudable for being the first major release from Angola, O Heroi is a recommended, but marginal, purchase.