Let it Burn

Let it Burn is a powerful look at Parque Dom Pedro Hotel in the centre of São Paulo, Brazil. From 2013 – 2017 there was a doomed state project to house recovering addicts, criminals and homeless people in its rooms. A new mayor subsequently cancelled this philanthropic effort, which left many stranded.

Brazillian director Maira Bühler sensitively explores the lives of the hotel residents with intimate closeup footage. They appear to be at ease with the camera’s gaze in emotionally-charged scenes of love, friendship, addiction and despair. We hear talk of extreme poverty, abandonment and acts of violence. This film however, avoids the ‘poverty porn’ criticism which has plagued ‘City Of God’. There is no glamour here. Instead the realism shines through, when Bühler captures an extreme act of violence it is off-camera. We hear the noise, then we cut to the consequences – a woman crying over an unconscious body.

It is shocking how casually many at the Parque Dom Pedro Hotel talk about their experiences. With rampant stealing they are always on edge, a great number have completely lost touch with all relatives, and there is the constant shadow of crack addiction and dealers. This world feels a million miles away from the stylish adverts for French luxuries/beauty products they watch on TV. The contrast is stark. As the film progresses I began to acknowledge the allure of escape that crack offers, with many of the residents admitting this themselves. They seem to be all too aware of what draws them back time and time again.

Despite the pervasive presence of addiction, these characters do not come across as one-dimensional victims. At certain times their entangled dramas play out like a Greek tragedy. Half way through the film in an intense telephone breakup, a resident tearfully declares he ‘loves Maria and would do anything for her.’ He goes through a rollercoaster of emotions. We witness self-pity, begging, proposal (partially) and devastation. He then feels better when another woman waits for him to finish and kisses him, still declaring ‘Maria is the only one for me’. This is social observation with no obvious agenda, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions.

As lockdown eases and we slowly return to a greater sense of normality, it’s important to remember the deprived communities which were worst affected by Coronavirus. Homlessness was eliminated in a matter of days here in the UK. The money and resources appear to have always been available to tackle this humanitarian problem.