Antonio das Mortes (character)
Encyclopedia
Antonio das Mortes is a fictional character created by filmmaker Glauber Rocha and featured in his films Black God, White Devil (Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol) and its sequel Antonio das Mortes (O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro). He is played both times by Mauricio do Valle
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Physically, he is a bearded, rugged man. He is of a silent, contemplative demeanor. He wears a long brown coat and a withered hat which completely shades his eyes, and ties a red handkerchief around his neck, which he uses as part of any ritual duel.
His motives and thoughts remain unclear throughout his appearances. Whereas a secondary character in the first film, he grows into a full-fledged protagonist by the second.
Antonio das Mortes is then hired one more time to dispose of Corisco, “the last cangaceiro”. He tracks down Julio, a blind man and narrator of the film, whom he had previously met before the massacre at the holy mountain, and gets Corisco’s location from him. In the end, Das Mortes and Corisco engage in a duel, effectively killing Corisco and his men – but allowing Manoel and Rosa to escape one more time (as they had joined Corisco earlier).
has been wiped clean of cangaceiros and Das Mortes has relapsed into a state of guilt and meditation. He is hired by Dr. Mattos, right-hand man to a tyrannical “Colonel” (land owner), to kill the menacing Coriana, whom they claim to be the last of the cangaceiros. Antonio agrees but refuses to be paid for the assignment: he’s doing this only to check on whether it’s true that he hasn’t killed all cangaceiros.
Antonio meets Coriana and his followers and a machete duel ensues in which Antonio fatally wounds Coriana. The dying Coriana leaves to die off in the mountains and his starving followers are left to perish leaderless. Antonio relapses one more time into a guilt-ridden state and only snaps out of it when Coriana’s masses are massacred by one Mata Vaca (literally “cow killer”) hired by the Colonel – who was never too keen to enlist Das Mortes in the first place.
Chaos ensues: Dr. Matos and the Colonel’s wife, Laura, who have been plotting to kill him, engage in a brief affair, but Laura grows sick of Mattos’ cowardice and kills him instead. Das Mortes meets the only two survivors of Coriana’s followers: their spiritual leader, a woman clad in white, and the negro dancer Antao.
Eventually Antonio and his new sidekick, a drunk teacher, face the Colonel, Laura, Mata Vaca and his men in the small town. A duel follows in which Antonio and Mata Vaca fight each other with machetes. In the confrontation, Mata-Vaca shoots a fleeing Laura (much to the teacher’s dismay, who had fought over her with Matos) and Antonio shoots Mata Vaca in turn. As his men are killed one by one, Antao rides into the scene and kills the Colonel by lunging a spear into his body( reference to saint Georg killing the dragon).
After the carnage, a silent Antonio picks up and leves the town for good.
Maurício do Valle
Maurício do Valle was a Brazilian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1952 and 1994. He is also known for his roles in several Brazilian TV series, such as Rede Globo's Roque Santeiro , and even for his role of secondary actor in the series Os Trapalhões, as well as in some films of this...
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Character overview
Antonio das Mortes is a mysterious hitman and wanderer and the Brazilian sertao (desert or arid lands). He is an excellent marksman and carries with him a rifle and a machete, which he uses on occasion in duels. He is widely referred to as "matador" and "cangaceiro killer" (cangaceiros being rural bandits or pirate lords of the desert).Physically, he is a bearded, rugged man. He is of a silent, contemplative demeanor. He wears a long brown coat and a withered hat which completely shades his eyes, and ties a red handkerchief around his neck, which he uses as part of any ritual duel.
His motives and thoughts remain unclear throughout his appearances. Whereas a secondary character in the first film, he grows into a full-fledged protagonist by the second.
Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol
Antonio das Mortes is introduced halfway into the film as a mysterious hitman, nicknamed “cangaceiro killer”. He is hired by the local church authorities to dispose of Saint Sebastiao, leader of a religious cult of poor and wretched people. Das Mortes manages to track down Sebastiao and his men to a holy mountain, but only succeeds in killing his followers (since the protagonists of the film, Manoel and Rosa, have killed Sebastiao earlier). Das Mortes spares them from the massacre and leaves.Antonio das Mortes is then hired one more time to dispose of Corisco, “the last cangaceiro”. He tracks down Julio, a blind man and narrator of the film, whom he had previously met before the massacre at the holy mountain, and gets Corisco’s location from him. In the end, Das Mortes and Corisco engage in a duel, effectively killing Corisco and his men – but allowing Manoel and Rosa to escape one more time (as they had joined Corisco earlier).
O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro
Antonio reappears in O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro as the protagonist of the film. Following Corisco’s death in the previous film, northeastern BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
has been wiped clean of cangaceiros and Das Mortes has relapsed into a state of guilt and meditation. He is hired by Dr. Mattos, right-hand man to a tyrannical “Colonel” (land owner), to kill the menacing Coriana, whom they claim to be the last of the cangaceiros. Antonio agrees but refuses to be paid for the assignment: he’s doing this only to check on whether it’s true that he hasn’t killed all cangaceiros.
Antonio meets Coriana and his followers and a machete duel ensues in which Antonio fatally wounds Coriana. The dying Coriana leaves to die off in the mountains and his starving followers are left to perish leaderless. Antonio relapses one more time into a guilt-ridden state and only snaps out of it when Coriana’s masses are massacred by one Mata Vaca (literally “cow killer”) hired by the Colonel – who was never too keen to enlist Das Mortes in the first place.
Chaos ensues: Dr. Matos and the Colonel’s wife, Laura, who have been plotting to kill him, engage in a brief affair, but Laura grows sick of Mattos’ cowardice and kills him instead. Das Mortes meets the only two survivors of Coriana’s followers: their spiritual leader, a woman clad in white, and the negro dancer Antao.
Eventually Antonio and his new sidekick, a drunk teacher, face the Colonel, Laura, Mata Vaca and his men in the small town. A duel follows in which Antonio and Mata Vaca fight each other with machetes. In the confrontation, Mata-Vaca shoots a fleeing Laura (much to the teacher’s dismay, who had fought over her with Matos) and Antonio shoots Mata Vaca in turn. As his men are killed one by one, Antao rides into the scene and kills the Colonel by lunging a spear into his body( reference to saint Georg killing the dragon).
After the carnage, a silent Antonio picks up and leves the town for good.