Sagarana - O Duelo (1973)

Based on the short story Duelo, by João Guimarães Rosa, submitted to a literary contest in 1938 and published, possibly after a rewrite, in 1946 in the collection Sagarana.

Turíbio, a killer for hire, returns home from a job one day to find his wife in bed with another man, an ex-military named Cassiano. Turíbio walks away without making himself noticed, and begins to plan for revenge. When he decides to act, however, he kills Cassiano's brother by mistake. It's Cassiano then who vows to take revenge on Turíbio, who flees. Their mutual chase goes on for several years.

This filmic transposition is mediocre, only making itself watchable through the intrinsic literary qualities of the original literary work, and  the competent performances of most of the actors. The plot bears similarities with Joseph Conrad's homonymous story.

Rating: 33