Behind The Sun (2001)
Behind the Sunis a rapturous Western, a big film about a big, unwanted destiny visited upon a vulnerable, young hero. Adapted from the novelBroken Aprilby Albanian writer Ismail Kadare (the story has been transferred from Europe to Brazil's rugged, northeastern badlands in  1910),Behind the Sunconcerns two families and their long-running land war, which has robbed many a young man of his hope, love and, ultimately, life. Sent by his aggrieved father to avenge the slaying of an older brother,  Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro), in torment, carries out his bloody, ancestral obligation and then proposes a truce between the families. Director Walter Salles (Central Station) aims to make a magnificently crafted, lush, and exotic epic told in broad strokes for art house aficionados, and he succeeds almost to a self-conscious fault. Still, there is nothing like a stirring, archetypal tragedy about the endless repercussions of violence and the sacrifice of innocence to a dubious cause.--Tom Keogh