The Magnificent Bandits
– Brazil, the 1920s. The sadistic colonel Minas massacres the hometown of a famous cangaceiro (a kind ..
Brazil, the 1920s. The sadistic colonel Minas massacres the hometown of a famous cangaceiro (a kind of revolutionary bandit). The only survivor is a young farmer called Espedito; he is nursed back to health by a (crazy?) hermit who thinks he has been sent (= espedito) by God and therefore baptizes him the Redeemer. Espedito/The Redeemer forms his own gang of cangaceiros but doesn’t really understand what he’s doing until he befriends the proverbial European intellectual, a Dutch Oil prospector, who introduces him to important people. Espedito is hired (and of course double-crossed) by the Dutchman and a corrupt local governor, but then the Dutchman changes sides …
23 Jun 1970
Italian
Giovanni Fago
Bernardino Zapponi (screenplay), José Luis Jerez Aloza (screenplay), Giovanni Fago (story), José Luis Jerez Aloza (story), Rafael Romero Marchent (screenplay), Rafael Romero Marchent (story), Antonio Troiso (story)
Tomas Milian, Ugo Pagliai, Eduardo Fajardo, Howard Ross
Espidito, survives the massacre of his entire village. A hermit helps him believing he is a Jesus like figure. As "Redeemer" Espidito goes out to help the poor turning to guns and his own rebel band. The discovery of oil twists everything.