O Matador

Intense, deep, brutal, yet sensitive, this amazing Western tells the story of "Cabeleira" a killer, born and raised in in a lawless countryside in the northeast of Brazil. Besides Cabeleira's fight for survival, we also get to know the story of other interesting characters, like Seven Ears, Sobral and the Frenchman. The impressive cinematography, intriguing storytelling, and a great performance from Diogo Morgado, as Cabeleira, as well as the performances from Brazilians and European actors, make this Western definitely worth watching! Highly Recommend!

There is a lot of violence in this and not just the one dished out with revolvers/guns, but also with ones body ... to someone elses body. I have to admit, to a point I personally wasn't sure if it wasn't a bit too much. Actually I know it goes too far in more than one occasion.

So in case you are not sure if you can stomache this ... maybe this isn't for you. Everyone else will see an interesting (brazilian) take on the Western genre. One that has more bad guys than you can count - which I reckon makes sense. Still you might have issues to root for many people here, if any. The movie is well done though, looks good and is interesting to say the least.

I'll start by saying that it's quite difficult for me to think of a Brazilian western film. They are concepts that contradict each other in my head. Under this precept I began to see the film and although I tried to avoid it, it was somewhat uncomfortable to process. Not because of the movie itself, but because of the aforementioned.

What stands out the most is the character who serves as the narrator. The movie is simple, light, basic, and a bit cartoony. Although it has the courage to laugh at itself, after a couple of sequences the film runs out of ideas, and becomes empty and purposeless. At this point it's pretty boring and slow.

Great ending to a story that melted several moments ago.

It's clearly not suitable for children. Recommended for adults, only if there is nothing else to see.

While it could be called predominantly 'Leone-like', this brutal western has influences from all regions but still firmly sets a Brazilian tone for a new sub-genre. I say 'new' based on my not seeing an S.A. example before this. There are a few editing/story problems that may indicate a director's cut in the future, but they don't take away from the flow of the story. If you like exploring modern westerns, it's worth a look.

The only reason to watch this movie until the end is Diogo Morgado, who's the anti-hero cave-man look alike. The western style is nice, and the amount of violence looks good for the kind of mood it's supposed to be. But the scenes are totally off, with no connection between them. The viewer can't bond with any character, and doesn't feel bad about the death of anyone. There's no suspense. The scenes happen quickly and are not smooth at all. It's a bad storytelling, told in the form of a narrator who starts to tell a story to two blokes out of nowhere, who are supposedly outlaws who threaten him if he doesn't tell some story.

Conclusion: You won't exactly feel like you've lost an hour and a half watching this, but it's no good experience either. You may like it if you really love old westerns.