Obrigado a Matar

First of all, "Obrigado a Matar" translates to "Forced to Kill", as in "I have no other option but to commit a murder". The word "obrigado" means both "forced to" and "thank you" in Portuguese, so don't get that mixed up!

Now for the movie...

It's really hard to understand what was going on during the production of this. One thing for sure is that nobody knew exactly what they were doing. The best way to describe it is to compare it with any home made short movies that kids would do for school, but with adults.

This 40 minutes "masterpiece" is extremely obscure by movie standards, but its opening scene became widely popular in Brazil due to its amazingly bad acting and special effects. How did it made its way to the internet I have no idea, because it was probably released for a very small public in the town of Lages, a rural area of Brazil. Whatever the case, though, everybody should watch at least its opening scene once, even if you can't understand the (hilariously poor written) dialogue.

I mean, it's amazing. How someone could possibly gather so many ordinary people to act as if they were in a real movie goes beyond any explanation I could give. It's fascinating how nobody starts laughing during this whole thing, everybody just acts as if this is the real deal. The passage of time in this movie also makes absolutely no sense; If I understood it right (which frankly no one can really tell), in a matter of 3 months João Amorim's daughter grew, like, 10 years or so! Or maybe he has two daughters, but the movie makes it as clear as the bottom of the ocean. And even worst, both Amorim and his daughter apparently suffer from a severe case of amnesia during a very critical moment of the movie. How the hell couldn't they remember something that should have marked their lives forever?! It gets really awful!

I don't want to get into spoilers here, but man that ending is something. Oh, and it's a musical too! Every time Amorim starts singing it is the most obvious dub you could possibly imagine, but it fills me with delight. It's a shame this movie may not be as funny to people from other countries as it is for Brazilians, but I just love it. It's the most awful thing I'll ever see in my life! And don't even try to tell me that another movie is the best at being the worst without watching at least this movie's opening.

The Room got nothing on this golden turd.

John Little Blackberry shows great mastery over the seventh art. The way he works the timeline reminds us of his famous disciple, Quentin Tarantino.

In addition to impeccable script and direction, the work has exceptional actors, showing the feeling in each gesture

Took off 1 star, because it ends.

Whata a masterpiece. One of the greatest directors of all time. The best western-musical i had ever seen.

Directed by João Amorim, this masterpiece delivers compelling and brilliantly written dialogues, reflecting each character's complexities. The film also uses never-seen-before angles to build tension and gruesome violence in each scene, not to mention the outstanding cast. Also, the different shades and color scheme really help the spectator understand which point in history the movie takes place. I was completely blown away by the fact that this is actually an independent production! It's a shame that this movie was snubbed by the academy at that time. Truly one of the most memorable pieces of brazilian cinema!

"Obrigado a matar", by João Amorim (2004) Seriously, I came to this film because of so many memes and scenes exculachachada on social media pages. Some considering "The worst movie ever made". With 43 minutes long, "Obrigado a matar" is a delight to watch, from beginning to end, with bizarre performances, rotten script and non-existent direction, with no notion of cuts in editing or even decoupage. But put that way, it sounds like the movie is pretty bad. Yes, it sucks, but that's its great quality. Who knows the reasons why the director and screenwriter João Amorim made his film so clumsily, maybe even for lack of technical knowledge, but the truth is that the film is too funny and worth being seen with friends, it will be a session at least to make the belly hurt from laughing so much. What you see on the screen is that João Amorim, who also stars, does everything with a lot of love and passion for cinema. He called friends who are not actors and decided to have a big party. The film is shot in Lages, Santa Catarina. João Amorim returns home after months away. He is reunited with his wife and daughter. However, bandits from the region arrive out of nowhere, kill his wife and injure João. Three months later, João has recovered and decides to take revenge. It is impossible to describe here the amount of anthological scenes in this film. Anthological in the sense of being crude. Actors who memorize lines and don't act, dialogs without notion, cuts in editing without clippings, ubiquitous backcountry soundtrack. And for even more fun, João still sings! Don't be embarrassed, the film is a lesson in the love of cinema. Lack of money is no reason not to make movies! João Amorim say so!

Short film viewed on June 10, 2021.