José Dumont Movies

In a fictional story that exaggerates and condenses historical realities for the sake of dramatic impact, an isolated, quiet village of the Avaete people along the Amazon River is attacked by murderous psychos in the pay of a corrupt politician. Villagers are strafed from the air, bombed, and shot while trying to escape. To emphasize the gore, a woman is hung and quartered. The horrified cook of the marauders grabs a five-year-old Avaete boy, and they manage to escape into the jungle. The rest of the story is a series of coincidences that eventually bring a final confrontation between the grown-up boy -- who has vowed revenge for these killings -- and the politician behind the massacre. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The setting for this engaging, well-acted drama is the arid northeastern region of Brazil in the first decade of the 20th century. An engineer named Heitor arrives in the middle of a drought to work on a project for the federal government and he takes an interest in a particular young woman, Matilde. She and her father, Colonel Cesario, live alone and are now quite poor, but that was not always the case. After Heitor decides to employ the Colonel so he will not interfere with Heitor's pursuit of Matilde, circumstances bring them into conflict, and tragedy results. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The horror of life in a Brazilian prison from an inmate's view is chronicled in this drama based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Gracilano Ramos. The tale takes place in the 1930s when Brazil was run by dictator Getulio Vargas. It begins as the Marxist oriented protagonist is arrested with no explanation. Once imprisoned, the authorities allow him to write--provided he can find pen and paper. In the end, his writing has such impact on the public that authorities release him. Had they not, he would have died from their brutal cruelty. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

On the eve of the October, 1930 installation of Getulio Vargas as a dictator in Brazil, a leader of the opposition Liberal Alliance Party was murdered. This imaginative and well-wrought, fictional film is about the indirect involvement of Anayde Beiriz (Tania Alves) in that murder, but rather than focus on the political consequences, the film concentrates on the personality and character of the woman herself. Anayde was not bound by puritanical or religious restrictions in her relationships with men, and so her affair with the journalist Joao Dantes (Claudio Marzo) was sexually liberated for its time. Dantas had tight political connections with the military head of the Republican Party, making his own politics clear - what is less clear is the motivation for his subsequent actions. When the leader of the Liberal Alliance Party invades Dantas' apartment and makes public intimate letters and photographs of his relationship with Anayde, the journalist tracks down the man in a restaurant, and kills him. Since the dictator Vargas was supported by Dantas and considered a fascist by many, the underlying questions about Anayde are whether or not she could be considered "liberated," or was she simply a product of one time, one political outlook, and one place? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Two men from the agricultural northeast sector of Brazil head to Sao Paulo to find a better life (both men are played by Jose Dumont who won three "Best Actor" awards for the dual role). One of the men decides to make money working in a factory and sacrifices his own ethics in order to get ahead financially. His life is made all the worse by the mercenary world around him, and he is put in a vise as he is about to make a tragic decision. The other man becomes a street poet, deciding to follow his literary bent instead of his monetary instincts. As a result of his lifestyle, he is ostracized and harassed, though not dissuaded from his chosen vocation. Their parallel careers come together again, as the poet decides to write about his friend's life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A simple cruise turns into a jealous battle for the affections of a sultry prostitute as the co-owners of a small cargo boat make their way down the Brazilian coastline in director Sergio Machado's stylish and sultry erotic drama. Deco (Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura) are best friends who make their living by renting out their modest cargo boat. Approached by 20-year-old prostitute Karinna (Alice Braga) for a ride down the coast, the trio sets out into the waters with both Deco and Naldinho employing her professional services throughout the course of the journey. After a fateful knife fight at a Cachoeira cockfight leaves Naldinho struggling for his life, Deco finds himself slowly falling for Karinna as his badly wounded friend battles back from the brink of death. Though Karinna's relationship with Deco becomes increasingly intimate during Naldinho's convalescence, it doesn't take long for the kindly prostitute to realize that Deco isn't the only one with intentions of claiming her as his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young man is forced to choose between family tradition and his own dreams and desires in this drama from Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles. In 1910 in a remote farming community, two families, the Breveses and the Ferreiras, both of whom earn their living growing sugar cane, have been squabbling over the ownership of a piece of land for years. The disagreement turned violent some time back, and after the first shot was fired and blood was spilled, the other family insisted upon killing the gunman as a matter of honor. The second shooter was then killed for the same reason, and ever since the two clans have been trading off murders in the name of familial honor and justice. The Breveses, who are a much smaller family, have been suffering a great deal more than their rivals thanks to this feud; a steady drop in sugar prices has also left the family with little but their pride. When Inácio, the first-born son of the Breves family, is shot down, his father (José Dumont) orders his next-oldest son, Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro), to kill one of the Ferreira boys after the traditional month-long waiting period. Tonho finds himself questioning the wisdom of this bloody rivalry, and he ponders his fate while spending time with his younger brother (Ravi Ramos Lacerda), whom his parents never bothered to name. As Tonho ponders his fate, a small traveling circus comes to town; Tonho and his brother are soon caught in the spell of Clara (Flavia Marco Antonio), a beautiful circus performer who befriends the young boy and nicknames him Pacu, while Tonho finds himself falling in love with her, and longing to travel the country at her side. Abril Despedacado won the Little Golden Lion award at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi