Baptism of Blood
7.6 /10 1 Votes
76% Rotten Tomatoes Director Helvecio Ratton Music director Guimaraes Country Brazil | 6.9/10 IMDb 4/5 Filmow Genre Drama Duration Language Portuguese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 2006 (2006) (Festival de Brasilia)
April 20, 2007 (2007-04-20) (theatrical release) Based on Batismo de Sangue by Frei Betto Writer Dani Patarra, Helvecio Ratton Screenplay Helvecio Ratton, Dani Patarra Cast Caio Blat (Frei Tito), Daniel de Oliveira (Frei Betto), Cássio Gabus Mendes (Delegado Fleury), Ângelo Antônio (Frei Oswaldo), Léo Quintão (Frei Fernando), Odilon Esteves (Frei Ivo)Similar movies Military dictatorship movies, Movies about Brazil, Torture movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elfen lied baptism of blood
Baptism of Blood (Portuguese: Batismo de Sangue) is a 2006 Brazilian film directed by Helvécio Ratton, based on Frei Betto's book of the same name. Starring Caio Blat and Daniel de Oliveira as Frei Tito and Betto respectively, it follows the Dominican friars' resistance against Brazilian military dictatorship.
Contents
Plot
In 1968, the Dominican friars of São Paulo became part of the resistance against the military dictatorship in Brazil. Under the pseudonyms of "Tito", "Betto", "Oswaldo", "Fernando", and "Ivo", the friars join the Ação Libertadora Nacional, a communist guerrilla movement headed by Carlos Marighella. The friars' superior, Diogo, recommends them to be more careful, and they decide to disperse themselves.
Ivo and Fernando go to Rio de Janeiro but are intercepted and tortured by officers who accuse them for betraying the Church and Brazil. The officers ask about the place where they receive calls from their leader, and eventually they reveal it. After intercepting a conversation, the police headed by Sérgio Paranhos Fleury discover where Marighella will be and kill him. Meanwhile, Betto is captured in Rio Grande do Sul, and is arrested at the penitentiary Tiradentes in São Paulo along with the other friars.
The friars are later judged and sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Tito is the only who is released in exchange for the Swiss ambassador in Brazil, Ehrenfried von Holleben, being exiled in France. He is psychologically shaken by the fact that he was tortured, and also because his attempt of suicide during the torture sessions was labeled as a coward act by Fleury. In 1974, he commits suicide in Éveux.
Cast
Production
Most of scenes were of Baptism of Blood shot in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais that simulated São Paulo. The friars' imprisonment was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, while Tito's exile was shot in France. Differently from other films about the period, the director wanted the torture scenes to be not be merely illustrative. The scenes were reimagined, and Ratton said "or [I would] do something shocking, as is the story, or [I] would not do the film." The friars Betto, Fernando, and Ivo did a lecture about the 1960s Brazil and student activism to the cast.
Reception
It was first screened at the 39th Festival de Brasília, where it won the Best Director and Best Cinematography awards.
References
Baptism of Blood WikipediaBaptism of Blood IMDbBaptism of Blood Rotten TomatoesBaptism of Blood FilmowBaptism of Blood themoviedb.org