Ódio

In Rio de Janeiro, the idealistic Roberto (Carlo Mossy) is the pride and joy of his professors and has just graduated in the Law School with great praise. Roberto is a family man and he leaves his girlfriend Clarisse (Fátima Freire) to travel to the countryside to celebrate his graduation with his father Mário (Jaime Barcellos), his mother Jandira (Líidia Vani) and his little sister Lurdinha.

Meanwhile, his family is being robbed by their employees Nestor (Celso Faria), Geraldão (Átila Iório), Léo "Carvão" (Ivan de Almeida) and Souza (Jotta Barroso). However, Mário is nervous and can not recall the secret of his safe. The thieves are excited and violent, and when Roberto arrives at home, he is hit on the head and faints. Then their maid Almerinda (Cléa Simões) finds the piece of paper with the numbers of the safe and the delinquents get the money. But the criminals kill the whole family to avoid eye witnesses.

Roberto miraculously survives, but disturbed and with the heart full of rage. He quits his career, leaves Clarisse and wanders completely lost through the underground of Rio. When he saves the gambler Toninho (Sérgio Guterres) from two crooks, the youngster invites Roberto to stay with him in the boarding house where he lives. Toninho and his gay friend Vanuza (Fernando Reski) befriend Roberto and the accidentally discover who Roberto is. Toninho decides to help Roberto to find the killers and revenge the death of his family. But the wrath of Roberto is destructive, spoiling every relationships and friendships.

Tales of revenge are usually engaging, and the first half of "Ódio" is really a very violent and realistic story in a good film. Unfortunately the second half is a complete mess and totally incoherent, and the erratic behavior of Roberto is quite absurd. The acting in general is above average, despite being hard to see Carlo Mossy in a dramatic role. The love scene of Roberto and Clarisse is boring; the way Roberto gets rid off Geraldão is frustrating; and the approach of Roberto with Nestor is an absurd situation. The excessive use of the Concert of Saint Preux is annoying. The open conclusion is a plus in this almost good movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ódio" ("Rage")

Very well done vicious revenge exploitation film, one of the most violent movies I have watched. There are some scenes and dialogues which are disturbingly harsh. However, camera work (at some moments influenced, together with music score, by Westers from that decade) and Carlos Mossy's direction are great. While all actors did well, Átila Iorio, Ivan de Almeida and Celso Faria (a former Spaghetti Western actor known in Italy as Tony Andrews) have particularly great performances. Celso Faria's character Nestor may be placed among the most hateful and disgusting villains in the history of cinema. The path of the leading character Roberto, played by Mossy himself, from a human rights defender (beginning the story with an excellent speech!) to a cold thraumatized man who takes justice with his own hands could lead to a dangerous outcome: the support of the widespread idea that "a nice bandit is a bad bandit". However, differently, for instance, from 2007 blockbuster Elite Squad, the present 70's production is cautious: it includes scenes that open spectators' eyes, such as the dialogue in the lynching scene, after the amazingly shot and edited chase footage.