A slope to nowhere

The slopes of Morro do Castelo harbor the forbidden passion between Father Ernesto and the mulatto Rosário. While Father Ernesto struggles to remain faithful to the Church, we witness the final days of Morro do Castelo, demolished in 1921 and 1922 by the modernizing zeal that would drive thousands of residents from downtown Rio de Janeiro. Marco Carvalho recreates the colors, smells, and sounds of a lost Rio and brings back characters who, though fictional, represent the men and women who lived on the slopes that now lead to nowhere. • Marco Carvalho is the author of Feijoada no paraíso, published by Editora Record in 2002 and adapted for the cinema in 2009 under the title Besouro. • “Marco Carvalho, an artist of line and word, [...] listened to and interpreted the undergrounds of Morro do Castelo. And from them he extracted this treasure.” – Nei Lopes