Brazilian Western

Plot

João do Santo Cristo (Fabrício Boliveira) was raised in the countryside of Bahia to his parentes in a poor, small farm. His father was shot dead by a police officer as a punishment for harming the cop's brother, who was himself hurting João earlier for trying to steal some candies. When João is older, his mother dies too and he decides to leave home for Brasília, to meet a relative he discovered by looking at some old pictures. Before leaving town, however, he executes his father's killer, and is caught at the bus. After doing time in prison, he is finally able to go to Brasília.

Upon arriving, he meets his cousin Pablo (César Troncoso) and start doing small illegal tasks for him, such as delivering drugs, and also gives him some weapons, including the Winchester 22 cited in the song. He also starts working at a local carpentry to earn some money. One of his drug delivering operations goes wrong and is stormed by the police. In order to escape, he manages to break into an apartment. There, he meets Maria Lúcia (Isis Valverde), a punk music enthusiast and daughter of a senator. Despite the circumstances, they end up falling in love after João visits her one more time and asks her out.

When Maria Lúcia shows her friend the marijuana João can provide, they immediately like it and ask for more. This upsets Jeremias (Felipe Abib), the local drug dealer, and he tries to have João terminated with the help of his partner and corrupt police officer Marco Aurélio (Antônio Calloni). Maria disapproves João's criminal activities and demands him to stop. He promises her not to commit crimes anymore, but he and Pablo start a new drug empire in Brasília taking advantage of the better marijuana they can offer.

In order to regain their respect and market around the city, Jeremias and his allies organize a "rockonha" (a portmanteau of "Rock" (the musical genre) and "Maconha" (marijuana), it refers to a party with rock 'n' roll music and marijuana), and João is invited. Upon arriving, he is chased by Jeremias and his two henchman. The trio corners João at the edge of a hill, but Pablo and a friend were already waiting nearby. Jeremias turns the tables once again in his favor and reveals that he has several criminals and corrupt officers covering him. Pablo pushes João down the hill and sacrifices himself to buy João some time.

João ends up captured anyway and is taken to prison. There, he spends several days and in each of them, he is ordered to hold a newspaper in front of him so Marco can photograph both. One day, during this task, he manages to grab hold of Marco and sets himself and all other prisoners free. He then executes Marco and heads for a final assault on Jeremias and his drug empire. He starts by killing Jeremia's right hand and stealing all his cocaine, leaving a message daring him for a duel.

At the assigned place, Jeremias finds three final bags of his cocaine hanging from a football goal. When he approaches them, João shoots all. They both stare at each other. Maria arrives with João's Winchester .22 and aims it at Jeremias. João looks at her and Jeremias takes the chance to shoot him. While Maria kneels by João, Jeremias shoots her as well and then turns around to check on his wasted coke. João, still breathing, charges his Winchester and shoots Jeremias five times, killing him. The film ends with João and Maria laying dead beside each other and with scenes of them together and João's narration.

In a post-credits scene, an alternate, more song-loyal ending is presented, with João and Jeremias about to duel in front of a crowd, as originally described in the song. It ends with both drawing out their guns and pointing them at each other, while Maria is shown having a brief spasm.

Cast

Development

In July 2005, O Globo informed that production on Faroeste Caboclo had started and was being led by director René Sampaio. According to him, he wanted to watch a movie based on the song, and found it funny that he was involved in the production of such film. He described it as a "Greek tragedy".

The first contracts to initiate the writing process were done with Russos's family, which approved it. However, in early 2007, Editora Tapajós tried to legally stop the production of the film, stating that it has been holding the song's copyrights for more than 20 years, and saying that the family could not negotiate the movie without their permission. The final decision of the Superior Court of Justice came in January 1, 2007, declining Tapajós's request to make the film. Since then, the producers spent some time trying to raise funds for the movie.

Casting

The main cast of the movie was confirmed on February 9, 2011. Fabrício Boliveira was chosen to play the main role, João de Santo Cristo; Ísis Valverde was confirmed as his love interest Maria Lúcia; and Felipe Adib will be the antagonist Jeremias. On April 15, 2011, Cinara Leal was chosen to play Teresa, since Fabiula Nascimento had to leave the film due to her busy schedule.

César Troncoso, husband of Teresa, was confirmed on 23 May 2011. About his character, he commented:

Filming

The shooting of the movie started on April 12, 2011, the first scene being the one in which João de Santo Cristo arrives at Brasília. The production team had to alter the highway so that it resembled the one found in the 70s. Also, they found a 1955 bus that circulated in the capital since its foundation.

The movie was shot in Brasília and in the countryside of São Paulo state. At the border of the Federal District with Goiás, a set city was built in order to recreate Ceilândia as it was in the 80s. The set was built in an empty terrain belonging to a landfill company.