The Assailant (2009)

Based on the life of a legendary capoeira fighter from Bahia, "Besouro" spins a fantastic tale of a young Brazilian man of African descent in search of his mission.

Director:

João Daniel Tikhomiroff

Writers:

Patrícia Andrade, Bráulio Tavares

Stars:

Aílton Carmo, Jéssica Barbosa, Flávio Rocha

9 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Aílton Carmo	...	Besouro
Jéssica Barbosa	...	Dinorá / Iemanjá
Flávio Rocha	...	Coronel Venâncio
Irandhir Santos	...	Noca de Antônia
Macalé	...	Mestre Alípio
Ânderson Santos de Jesus	...	Quero-Quero
Leno Sacramento	...	Chico Canoa
Cris Vianna	...	Teresa
Sérgio Laurentino	...	Exu
Geísa Costa	...	Zulmira
Nilton Júnior	...	Cobra-Criada
Servílio de Holanda	...	Genival
Antônio Fábio	...	Serafim (as Antonio Fabio)
Adriana Alves	...	Oxum
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miguel Lunardi	...	Capanga

Storyline

Based on the life of a legendary capoeira fighter from Bahia, "Besouro" spins a fantastic tale of a young Brazilian man of African descent in search of his mission.

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Plot Keywords:

capoeira | martial arts | sugarcane | martial art | brazilian legend | 

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence, sexuality, nudity and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Brazil]

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

30 October 2009 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

The Assailant

Filming Locations:

Chapada Diamantina National Park, Bahia, Brazil

Company Credits

Production Co:

Globo Filmes, Mixer, Teleimage

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Besouro' is the word in Portuguese for beetle.

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Quotes

Noca de Antônia: As long as you give the vulture the right meat, it opens the beak.

User Reviews

Besouro is less Oung Bak and more Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in its approach to action and story.

Let's make no mistake here; this is not a Capoeira film. It's more of a film about people that do Capoeira. The story of Besouro is one of responsibility, pendants, spiritualism, rebellion, and the understanding that ideals don't die they live on in the minds of others who take them to heart. The Film Besouro follows the main character Besouro Mangangá a legendary capoeirista from Santo Amaro, Bahia Brazil. The film is set in the jungles of Bahia in the 1920s; the story is firmly grounded in its historical time and place, when rich white landowners oppressed black workers like slaves, even after the abolishment of slavery in Brazil. The story begins when Master Alipio, who has taught the art of Capoeira to Besouro, Dinora and Quero-Quero since they were children, is brutally murdered under Besouro's watch. Besouro's guilt over how his negligence led to his Master's death sends him deep into the jungles of Bahia where Master Alipio tells his young student from beyond the grave to fight for his people. Besouro is not alone on his mission however; he is aided by the Orisha, Deity like spirits, notably Eshu (a trickster God). They give him magical powers that make his body virtually impenetrable. The story is engaging and it has a social point to make, all of it brought together with a martial arts nougat center. The action is nice, not only do you see Capoeira as it's seen normally on the street (which to the uninitiated is cool enough) but you also see it in its combative form. But sadly to some, wire fighting is sprinkled throughout the action scenes, thankfully their appearance are few and far between.

For all that the film tries to do sadly it feels a bit empty in the end. For a movie that has action, drama, mysticism, revenge, and romance it seemingly forgot to pick up character development from Soccer practice. Characters move from one emotional plot point to another with little explanation of the reasoning behind the character change. With that being said, Besouro is still an entertaining and interesting film. For those who are looking for a nonstop balls to the wall Capoeira action film I'm afraid the search will have to continue. But for those looking for a intriguing film which features an equally unique fighting style or if you simply like the style of Capoeira and wish to see a film where it's shown positively, then I feel Besouro is worth a viewing. So on a scale of "Lord of the Rings" to "Twilight" this film gets a Watchmen.

5 stars, Lord of the Rings. 4 stars, the fifth element. 3 stars, Watchmen. 2 stars, The Company of Wolves. 1 star, Twilight.