Finis Hominis

Now I know José Mojica Marins (a.k.a. Coffin Joe) is pretty much considered a demigod amongst a selected but avidly fanatic group of cult cinema lovers, and I also realize I still have to see more of his work before I can judge properly, but I'm really not the slightest bit impressed so far! I could only appreciate his experimental and genuinely macabre anthology "The Strange World of Coffin Joe", but his supposed masterpiece "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" and particularly this "The End of Man" couldn't fascinate me at all. My fellow reviewers around here – whose opinions I usually follow blindly – compare Marins' style with the oeuvres of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Luis Buñuel and even Mario Bava. I'm sorry, what?!? He may be a hard-working and versatile filmmaker, but he undeniably lacks the vision and talents of the aforementioned cinematic geniuses. If I had to describe "The End of Man" in just a couple of words, they would be: inventive but dull and totally incapable of dealing with budgetary restrictions. Some directors only just become considered as geniuses when they manage to camouflage their film's lack of funding through ingeniousness and creativity. Marins' doesn't have this quality, or at least not around the time he made this film. "The End of Man" looks even cheaper than it probably cost altogether and Marins doesn't even bother to camouflage it. It's a very disappointing film with only a couple of noteworthy moments.

A mysterious naked man (played by director José Mojica Marins) emerges from the sea and proceeds to perform a series of miracles, curing a crippled woman, rescuing a girl from abduction and her mother from rapists (the grateful woman rewarding him by dressing him in Indian robes), protecting an adulteress from an angry mob, saving the life of a seriously wounded girl, and bringing a man back from the dead. Known only as Finis Hominis, the man is regarded by many as a Christ-like messiah, and, when he announces his imminent departure, crowds flock to hear him talk.

But where does Finis Hominis disappear to after his sermon? All is revealed at the very end of this cult oddity, but getting there is no easy feat, End of Man being one hell of a bizarre experience and a rather tedious one, even by José Mojica Marins' standards (and despite a fair bit of sex and nudity throughout). A scatter-shot narrative, imagery that randomly switches between colour and black & white, low production values, an eccentric choice of music, terrible pacing, and moments of pure insanity make the film hard to endure (if you make it past the orgiastic hippies singing 'Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey-eya-eh!', then you're doing well!).

I do, however, have some admiration for Marins' unwavering cynicism and general disdain for humanity: he takes a swipe at the whole hippie movement by depicting them as phonies who will happily abandon their ideals for money, reveals the morally outraged to be hypocrites, portrays the government as suspicious and manipulative, and, with the film's final twist, shows blind followers of religion to be fools. If anything, Marins is a man who sticks to his guns and doesn't give two hoots what anyone else thinks of him.

Jose Mojica Marins has long between in a legend in his native Brazil but his reputation has taken some time to slowly filter down to horror and exploitation fans worldwide. He's best known as his evil alter ego Coffin Joe (Ze do Caixao) via a series of movies beginning with 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' in the 60s, as well as TV and comics. In 'The End Of Man' Marins doesn't play Coffin Joe, instead he's Finis Hominis a mysterious figure who emerges naked from the ocean, then wanders around the streets becoming involved in the lives of various people. He is arrested, escapes, becomes a media sensation and eventually for many a kind of messiah. I watched the movie on a Brazilian DVD with laughably inept subtitles which added another surreal layer to an already out there movie. My favourite bits are where Finis Hominis encounters a group of very irritating hippies who exclaim things like "Finis Hominis, you're the man!", "The birds lives and the children are dressed with the best fabric!", and (my favourite) "Freedom, freedom, and hurrah to free love!". If you've seen any of the Coffin Joe movies you know that Marins is capable of very strange movies on minuscule budgets. 'The End Of Man' is even stranger! I wouldn't say it's the best Marins movie I've seen but it's definitely the oddest. It's even odder than 'Awakening Of The Beast', and that's saying a lot! It's probably not the best place to start if you haven't seen any Coffin Joe before. On the other hand it isn't strictly a Coffin Joe movie so if you like weird and wonderful films that aren't necessarily horror and you get the chance to watch it do so. The more Marins movies I see, the more I am amazed. Coffin Joe deserves to be spoken of in the same breathe as Russ Meyer and Jess Franco, those other two masters of b-grade surrealism. His movies are like Jodorowsky on a Herschell Gordon Lewis budget!

A naked man comes out from the sea of Santos and wanders, affecting the locals. A crippled woman runs from her wheelchair; an abducted girl and her mother that is near to be raped are saved by him. In return, she gives a red Indian clothing and turban to him. When a policeman asks his name, he entitles himself as Finis Hominis (The End of the Man, in Latin). The press promotes him as the new Messiah and he saves a girl covered in blood in a hospital, forcing the doctors to submit her to a surgery. He rescues an adulteress from her husband; he meets a group of hippies that show greed, instead of peace and love. Then he saves an impotent cuckold that has catatonia and will be buried alive. The police department invites Finis Hominis to give a show to help them to raise money for their hospital. When Finis Hominis tells that he will leave the city, a crowd of worshippers follow him to hear his last speech.

"Finis Hominis" is another original and one of the weirdest film by José Mojica Marins introducing the character Finis Hominis, who is the opposite of Zé do Caixão. The story is a sharp critic to the hypocrisy of the society and to the false prophets, with references to the Bible (walking on water; the crippled woman that walks; the raise of the dead; the episode of the adulteress). The conclusion is a great surprise, when Finis Hominis returns home. In the end, the real miracle is the existence of mankind. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Finis Hominis"

The End of Man is one of the strangest of José Mojica Marins movies. Unlike his usual offerings, this one isn't a horror flick. It's hard to know exactly how to classify it to be perfectly honest. It starts with an enigmatic man called Finis Hominis emerging naked from the ocean. He then travels around interacting with various people. He saves the vulnerable and powerless against corrupt authority and the amoral. He exposes widespread hypocrisy. Before long he is considered a messiah figure.

Despite not really being a horror film, The End of Man is typical enough for a Marins picture. It's extremely cheap with the very low production values we have come to associate with the director; while it's as strange and surreal as his other films too. Again, the Brazilian origins ensure that it feels completely different to other films from the time. Overall, it's utterly weird and it sure isn't for everyone. It's even less accessible than Marins other films, so enter at your peril...