Recreating the imaginary village of Sant'Ana
do Agreste was one of the biggest challenges Art Director Lia
Renha has faced. She in fact recreated Jorge Amado
setting in the village of Picardo in the Bahian Forest region.
The second principal location, Mangue Seco, is an idyllic stretch
of white dunes, coconut palms and endless beaches.
Lia Renha
describes the starting-point of her work: "We decided to
abandon the conventional colonial Bahian style and went for a
sort of North-East Brazilian art deco characterised by the platband-style
architecture typical of the towns in the interior of the region."Another
source of inspiration was Brazilian painting from the 1920's-40's
by artists such as Volpi, Cicero Dias and Lula
Cardoso Aires, especially his famous painting, Frevo.
Lia Renha
began by asking for every one of the 117 houses in Picardo to
be painted using a technique of several coats of paint sanded
down and soaked in lime. "The result is a town in water colour,
where nothing is white and which combines perfectly with the inhabitants
of the region," she says.
Just as much care was taken with the interiors.
"We did not want any of the houses in the film to look as
if they were stage settings and bereft of atmosphere. Lia Renha
sought and adapted furniture from antique dealers. Perpétua's
house was made to look like a sacristy. The favelhina (small shanty)
was constructed using actual clay and small tree trunks.
" Everything was created to infuse the
film with the colour and spirit of the Brazilian people. Carlos
and I immediately tuned into each other's way of working. He is
one of the most passionate people about Brazil that I know. As
I was going down the same road, we were able to bring an unmistakable
Brazilian feel to the screen."
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