O Caçador de Esmeraldas

The film is visually nice (quite good look of settlers and Indians, also in action), has good actors (Joffre Soares, Roberto Bonfim, Glória Menezes, Hérson Capri, Dionísio Azevedo...) and looks to Brazilian history, what is always promising. However, script is shallow. The recurrent idealization of greedy killers of Indians, the adventurers called "bandeirantes", in order to build a founding myth for São Paulo, has deep roots in that culture, and appears in this film. Joffre Soares was a charismatic competent actor, but I do not feel sorry for a rich man who sells his goods and separates himself from his family in order to serve the king by killing Indians in search for emeralds. Dom Fernão Dias Paes is neither a hero, nor a victim or a man to have empathy for. Perhaps concerned with censorship, there is perhaps a single critical quote in the whole movie, spoken by a minor character: "The king is sit on a golden throne, and Fernão Dias is killing people in order to give emeralds to a rich man.