Bolsonaro is a hellhound, says director of ‘Pantanal’

One of the directors of “Pantanal” and a leading name in Brazilian cinema and TV, Walter Carvalho, 75, received friends and companions on Wednesday night (12) for the opening of the “Iluminuras” exhibition, in a gallery in Leblon, Rio. Happy with almost half [6] of the 16 exhibited paintings sold on the very first day, he talked to F5 about the new work, commented on the telenovela and did not shy away from a tricky subject in the artistic environment: the next elections. Walter called Bolsonaro a ‘hound from hell’ and assumed he feared a war in the country.

We are in a year of extremely polarized elections, with attacks on democracy. What do you think could happen until October?

I think we have to be prepared for a very aggressive attitude that could happen. I have the impression that if the perspective of this hellhound that runs Brazil continues, if the perspective of his desires and his wishes continues, we are going to have a war.

Why do you think that?

It cannot be faced as arbitrarily as he does with the Federal Supreme Court. You cannot attack the STF as it does. How he also attacks Congress and attacks society itself. So, I think we have to be very organized and prepared.

How to prevent yourself?

I think we’re going to have trouble getting this ‘hound from hell’ out of where he is, so the conscious vote in these elections has never been more important. Today, on the one hand, we have the most progressive, most humanistic thing and a vision with a desire for a social project and, on the other hand, the fascist irrationality that persists and that makes me very afraid.

Not every artistic class shares your fear.

I think it is the right of each person to choose their political position and no one is obliged to do anything, but that something less harmful than this fascist right could be chosen. It’s okay that you have the right to choose, but couldn’t it be better? I always ask this. I ask not only for people in the artistic class, but for all other areas. I know very few in the artistic class who support this ‘hound from hell’, but most are against it.

You have directed cinematography for films such as “Central do Brasil” (1998), “Lavoura Arcaica” (2001), series and soap operas, being “Amor de Mãe” (2019) the most recent. Is the experience in “Pantanal” somehow different from what you’ve done before?

There is an exuberance of natural beauty in the Pantanal, but you are not there telling the story of nature, of the place. You are telling the story of the human being. By the way, of several human beings in the soap opera: Juma, Jove, Muda, José Leôncio… Then we are going to give a concept, a freedom of the characters within that incredible landscape. It is the actor, the text and that nature, without varnish or any language effects or tricks of the narrative representation. This makes the viewer feel in front of the TV and enjoy what they are watching.