Arquivo

A reconstitution of the Inconfidência Mineira revolutionary movement against Portuguese colonial domination. Poets and nobles were part of the group of conspirators. Dentist Tiradentes is chosen to set an example to the rebels that arose against the Portuguese Crown. Although they have confessed, his accomplices deny responsibility. The only one to assume responsibility is Tiradentes himself, who is finally sentenced to death. The production contests official versions of the historic episode. Based on dialog from O Romanceiro da Inconfidência, by Cecília Meireles, on the Autos da Devassa, and on verses by the conspirator poets Tomás Antonio Gonzaga, Cláudio Manoel da Costa, and Inácio José de Alvarenga Peixoto, the film focuses on the position of the intellectuals in face of the practice of revolutionary policies. In the words of veteran Director of Photography Mário Carneiro: "Joaquim Pedro`s historic cinema has characters who act out their self-criticism on the screen, with a great deal of cynicism as regards the role they play." The film won the Prize from the Arts and Languages Committee at the 1972 Venice Film Festival.