República dos Assassinos

During military dictatorship, a death squad composed by policemen is legally appointed by state government and is celebrated as heroes, the "men of steal"(!), in newspapers. Together with other important support characters, the film follows mainly the life of one of those elite-backed death squad murderers, a vain womaniser and ambitious man played by Tarcísio Meira, and a poor transgender who makes a living however is possible, brilliantly played by Anselmo Vasconcelos. There are many violent scenes of summary executions and mysoginy, but the one that is rightfully the most mentioned is not about violence, but about love: Anselmo Vasconcelos and Tonico Pereira kissed each other. It was the very first homosexual kiss in the history of Brazilian cinema. Off course this would be enough for making the film to be taken as important and brave. However, I shall also mention that it is very well done, and it is no less remarkable that they portrayed criminal activities backed by official state institutions during military dictatorship, that was still active (it was released in the very year of Amnesty, when military authoritarian rule began to be softened). A good movie with a quite good casting.

Don't get me wrong, Republica de Assassinos is disguised as political drama regarding the dreaded Death Squad arising in late sixties during military dictatorship system until mid-eighties, as a matter of fact this picture focuses essentially in a gay-relationship setting than everything else, a sub-plot concerning a tabloid umbilical corrupt connection between head office of security department as a tool of exposure this special squad.

Aftermaths many excess carried out by the leading casting the crook cop Mateus (Tarcisio Meira) allied his hot affair with a tabloid's owner daughter (Silvia Bandeira) spoils for good an easy ambience at high sphere of power, so hereinafter each members of death squad have been arrest to appease the hot environment lifts by an stringent district attorney at their neck, upon this plight someone threats becomes a squealer.

Underneath these facts cited above entering the main plot about the exotic gay persona played by Anselmo Vasconcelos that spent fifteen minutes in opening sequence exposing his sexual behavior with his humble lover, actually he is the main character in this sexploitation-dramatic picture, he also appeared in key sequences as at courthouse and on final outcome, so don't be fooled by some reviewers dealing it as political drama as the tittle implied.

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First watch: 1994 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

This is quite an exceptional film about the infamous Esquadrão da Morte ("Death Squad") made during the beginning of the final years of the military regime in Brazil. "República dos Assassinos" ("Assassin's Republic") tells the story of the dangerous police officer Mateus Romeiro (Tarcísio Meira) and his Steelmen, officers who murdered criminals and innocent people too in order to reinforce to marginality and population that the police isn't a force to be toyed around.

Romeiro was based on a known officer who were killed in mysterious circumstances.

Here, the movie chronicles through flashbacks the murder of a simple bandit who was killed by Romeiro's gang, the petty thief Carlinhos (Tonico Pereira) and barely Romeiro knew that the thief had a companion the transvestite Eloína (the amazing Anselmo Vasconcelos) who knows all about him and wants to testify against the man who accumulates loads of processs against him but always manages to escape conviction.

The film also covers his relationship with his first wife (Sandra Bréa), of whom he abandons for a younger woman (Silvia Bandeira) daughter of an influent newspaper editor (José Lewgoy) who covers all the stories about the death squad with his yellow journalism that stands between creating more story about the man or finding ways to provide more evidence for Romeiro's conviction.

"República dos Assassinos" tells everything exactly like it is with the brutal killings, entrapments to frame people or to create scenarios where the police was the victim of petty criminals; they weren't combating drug dealers or the bicheiros (of whom they always asked for favors). Credible performances from the cast also makes of this is a good and realistic experience to watch. Some moments here and there are lost or painfully made to alienate audiences. For instance, Romeiro's ex-wife rape on the hands of the newspaper editor was plain dumb, with a music score that makes it seems all playful and fun. I wonder what the writers and director were thinking in creating such scene. That moment almost ruins the movie for being pathetic, gratuitous and pointless to the story - it almost has a point for being the there but the way it was composed it makes me wonder why make fun of a tragic situation.

Other than that, the movie offers plenty of good memorable moments such as the death of Carlinhos; the sequences with him and Eloína; Romeiro's suspenseful escape from prison among others; and obviously the ending. I loved that ending. Not gonna tell, just leaving you curious for it. It's really worth seeing. It's an interesting film about how death squads worked in Brazil, an almost historic film just wronged by a few sequences. 8/10.