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The Assailant
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Wikipedia article
'The Assailant' (known as 'Besouro' in Brazil) is a 2009 Brazilian action-drama film directed by Joo Daniel Tikhomiroff. The film is about Besouro Mangang, a Brazilian Capoeirista from the early 1920s, to whom were attributed some heroic and legendary deeds.
Huan-Chiu Ku, 'Kill Bill's choreographer, is responsible for the film's fight scenes.http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u639883.shtml Its filming lasted three months in Bahia.
Plot
In 1924, almost forty years after slavery in Brazil was abolished, former black slaves are still oppressed by the rich. The resistance in the region of the Recncavo Baiano is led by the elderly Mestre Alpio, a teacher of a martial art, capoeira, used by slaves to fight off abuse. Mestre Alpio has been threatened with death, so one of his best apprentices, Besouro, is appointed his bodyguard. However, Besouro spends all of his time playing capoeira in street circles, with the consequence that Alpio is killed by the police.
One day, Besouro is visited by a spiritual entity, Exu, who demands him to kneel. Trying to fight off the spirit, Besouro trashes a work fair, which causes the guards to chase him. He jumps into a river, after which he meets a spiritual teacher, Dona Zulmira, who gives him a choker that grants him 'corpo fechado', making him invulnerable to all attacks and weapons except by the tree known as 'ticum'. With his new abilities, Besouro initiates a one-man sabotage campaign against the plantations of Coronel Venncio, a powerful army officer who oppresses his people.
Besouro's efforts bring him the enmity of his childhood friend Quero-Quero, a fellow capoeirista and a collaborator of Venncio who believes Besouro is only worsening the situation of the black people. Due to his stance, Quero-Quero's fiancee Dinor leaves him, and instead goes with Besouro shortly after. A jealous Quero-Quero confronts Besouro in the jungle and they fight, but Besouro is victorious. To avenge his humiliation, Quero-Quero kills a man and incriminates Besouro, so the authorities will answer with greater force against him, and reveals to them that they can kill Besouro with a machete made of 'ticum' wood.
Venncio's men find Besouro and fight, but they are defeated. However, the Coronel brandishes a 'ticum' machete and slashes him, finally killing Besouro. He then goes to Dinor and tries to rape her, but she defeats him with capoeira and flees to mourn her lover.
It's later revealed Dinor was pregnant with Besouro's child, who is now a little boy learning capoeira under Besouro's friend Chico. The boy chooses his father's name as his own, and when Coronel Venncio passes by him in the street, he gives him a nasty stare, implying the boy will avenge his father some day.
Cast
*Alton Carmo as Besouro
*Srgio Laurentino as Orix Exu
*Anderson Grillo as Quero-Quero
*Srgio Perer as Orix Ossaim
*Adriana Alves as Orix Oxum
*Jessica Barbosa as Orix Ians/Dinor
*Zebrinha as Orix Ogum
*Macal dos Santos as Master Alpio
*Flvio Rocha as Coronel Venncio
*Irandhir Santos as Noca de Antnia
*Geisa Costa as Dona Zulmira
*Miguel Lunardi
*Antnio Fbio as Serafim
*Nilton Jnior as Cobra Criada
*Denise Correia
*Servlio de Holanda as Genival
*Leno Sacramento as Chico Canoa
References
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