Antonio das Mortes
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Glauber Rocha
Maurício Do Valle
Odete Lara
Hugo Carvana
Othon Bastos
Jofre Soares
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Colonel Horatio, an old, tyrannical, blind landowner in the sertão (backlands) of northeastern Brazil, rules over the poverty-stricken village of Jardim das Piranhas. At his side are Laura, his young and beautiful mistress, whom he saved from a brothel, and a cowardly, ambitious police chief, Mattos, who favors modernization through U. S. capital. A dispirited schoolteacher from the city instructs the town's children in Brazilian history and consoles himself with drink. Horatio's peace is disturbed by the appearance of a starving band of beatos (mystical believers from the poorest classes) led by the cangaceiro (bandit-rebel) Coirana, who proclaims himself a holy warrior battling the dragon of evil and demands food for his people. To pacify Horatio, Mattos summons Antônio das Mortes, who in years gone by carried out a personal mission of extermination against the cangaceiros , killing their leader, Lampião, in 1938. Antônio arrives to verify the report of a new cangaceiro, but Horatio is dismayed to learn that he will accept no money for killing Coirana. In a ritual fight with machetes as the beatos chant nearby, Antônio wounds Coirana. He feels troubled by his deed, however, and realizes that it is no longer the cangaceiro who is his enemy. He seeks counsel from Coirana's "saint," a young woman dressed in white, and she sends him to seek forgiveness along "the fiery roads of earth." Meanwhile, Laura urges Mattos to kill Horatio and usurp his power, and when Mattos vacillates she publicly stabs him to death to retain Horatio's trust. Coirana dies from his wound, and while Antônio carries his body into the sertão , Horatio calls in a band of hired killers led by "Mata Vaca" to exterminate the cangaceiro 's helpless followers. The village priest seeks in vain for help as the schoolteacher makes love with Laura over Mattos' corpse. Only the saint and an old black disciple survive the slaughter of the beatos . Antônio returns and resurrects the schoolteacher from his despair. In front of the village church they meet Mata Vaca and his band in a heroic gun battle. The hired killers are wiped out, and Horatio is killed by the black disciple. The schoolteacher carries the body of Laura, killed in the battle, as Antônio departs along a modern highway. [A prologue describes parallels between the Christian and African religious heritage of Brazil and the importance of the legend of St. George and the Dragon.]
Director
Glauber Rocha
Cast
Maurício Do Valle
Odete Lara
Hugo Carvana
Othon Bastos
Jofre Soares
Lorival Pariz
Rosa Maria Penna
Mário Gusmão
Vinicius Salvatori
Emanuel Cavalcanti
Sante Scaldaferri
The People Of Milagres
Crew
Amauri Alves
Alfonso Beato
Antonio Calmon
Eduardo Escorel
Walter Goulart
Claude-antoine Mapa
Marlos Nobre
Walter Queiroz
Sérgio Ricardo
Glauber Rocha
Glauber Rocha
Glauber Rocha
Ricardo Stein
Zelito Viana
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed on location in Milagres in the Brazilian Northeast. Rio de Janeiro opening: June 1969 as O dragão da maldade contra o santo guerreiro; alternative title: Antônio das Mortes.
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the Best Director Prize at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.
Released in United States Spring April 2, 1970
Released in United States 1988
Released in United States December 1998
Shown at Public Theater in New York City in program "The Return of Brazilian Cinema" May 27-June 9, 1988.
Shown at the Museum of Modern Art (Cinema Novo and Beyond) in New York City December 11 & 19, 1998.
Released in United States Spring April 2, 1970
Released in United States 1988 (Shown at Public Theater in New York City in program "The Return of Brazilian Cinema" May 27-June 9, 1988.)
Released in United States December 1998 (Shown at the Museum of Modern Art (Cinema Novo and Beyond) in New York City December 11 & 19, 1998. )
