Letters (1970)

Directed by: George Sluizer | 9 minutes | short film, documentary

‘Letters’ is an early, short documentary by George Sluizer about the very first school in the Brazilian village of Raposa (in the state of Maranhão). Well, you could say that it is also about the impact of this school on the inhabitants of the village, who are all illiterate and are mainly engaged in agriculture and fishing. But that’s a little too much honour. Or rather: the length of the documentary does not allow that. Still, it’s a nice snapshot from the lives of these people.

With a duration of nine minutes, Sluizer can do little more than register. He does this well and ‘Letters’ certainly offers some nice, striking interactions and recognizable human emotions, but of course there is no room to go into great depth or get to know the characters well.

For a moment, eight-year-old Ricardo seems to play a leading role. He is in class and cannot read what the teacher is writing on the blackboard. She asks the other children in the class to pass her glasses backwards so that Ricardo can put them on. He finds it interesting but will not really be able to see better through it, the voice-over notes.

At the end of the movie we see Ricardo again; he goes with the teacher to an ophthalmologist in town. It is nice that action is being taken, but whether his vision problem was revealed by the teacher and the arrival of the school – or whether this would otherwise have remained unknown and untreated – is not clear.

More interesting in ‘Letters’ is how the population reacts to the arrival of the school. First we see a children’s class, later a class full of adults. Everyone is diligently trying to learn to write and read. A scene in which the adult Maria practices at home and is corrected by her little daughter (also named Maria) is emblematic and again underlines how important it is that children receive a good education. Later in life you pick it up much less quickly.

Of course, Maria is too proud to let her daughter show it off, and little Maria, in turn, doesn’t want to push too hard, so as not to embarrass her mother. A beautiful, touching scene.

The arrival of a school is a good development, everyone will agree on that. Yet it is a pity that this is simply accepted as universal truth and that the reason or motivation for the establishment of this school is not discussed further. Who thought when it was time for a school in this primitive fishing village, where until now the inhabitants had no need at all to learn to read and write. With this they were always able to provide for their livelihood (so says the voice-over) and also just live an (apparently) happy life.

For a moment it seems as if Sluizer is not going to pay any attention to this huge elephant in the room, but then anyway, in the last one or two minutes of ‘Letters’. First, a woman is asked why she wants to learn to read. She says that she does not want others to have to read or tell her (political) ideas all the time, but that she also wants to be able to absorb these independently. When asked whether she would also like to vote if she could read and write, she answered in the affirmative.

She sounds convinced, but cautious: as if she hadn’t thought or dared dream about this before. That makes sense: even if they didn’t even ask for this directly, it seems that the arrival of the school shows the inhabitants possibilities and opportunities that they would never think of otherwise. In short, a world opens up for them.

Immediately after this, the same question is asked of a fisherman (who is knee-deep in the sea, busy with his work). Why does he want (or need) to learn to read? He thinks, laughs scornfully, and says: no idea. Perhaps this means that he will yet come to ‘understanding’, or that he simply does not need it and never will. Because that is also possible.