Antonio Das Mortes DVD, 1969

One of the most memorable films from Brazil's Cinema Novo movement, Glauber Rocha's tale of a bounty hunter turned revolutionary fuses folklore, political allegory and mythology. It's a powerful mix, says David Parkinson.

Inspired by the true story of a Brazilian bounty hunter and earning Glauber Rocha the Best Director prize at Cannes, the Cinema Novo masterwork Antonio das Mortes is packed with allusions to the politics, folklore, religion, literature, music and dance of the backland Bahia region. With Affonso Beato's camera scouring the bleak landscape to emphasise the insignificance of its residents, the action is suffused with a social and cultural symbolism that urges a rebellion against faith-based fealty. Making dazzling use of colour and boldly staging in long takes and intricate sequences that succeed in being both cinematic and operatic, Rocha mythologises the struggle between the peasantry and cangaceiro Maurício do Valle and tyrannical landowner Joffre Soares by equating revolutionary heroes like Che Guevara with warrior saints like George and Anthony. Some may bridle at the depiction of female characters like Odete Lara as self-serving and treacherous. But Rocha achieves a stylised realism whose agit-prop potency is intensified by the unflinching attitude to extreme violence.

David Parkinson on 21st July 2010
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