492 aka O Nome da Morte, written and directed by Henrique Goldman - 8.3 out of 10

492 aka O Nome da Morte, written and directed by Henrique Goldman

8.3 out of 10

Incredible as it sounds, this film about a killer that has dispatched 492 people to Neverland is based on a true story.

Julio Santana has confessed to the abominable mass murder of a record number of victims, if we do not add to the competition the likes of Stalin, Mao and Hitler…or more recently, Kim, the dictator that the stupid Trump has ‘fallen in love with’.

Marco Pigossi is very good as Julio Santana, although one wonders what the real man might be like…in the film he appears somewhat decent, troubled and we read that the mass killer was indeed a Christian, generous man, counterintuitive as this sounds, if not impossible.

When he is very young and still living with his parents, the anti-hero demonstrates a somewhat annoying lack of talent, when he is asked to try to help in a garage, where those working there raise their hands in despair.

He is not attracted by the perspectives presented to him and when his uncle mentions becoming a police officer in the city, Julio asks about his return home, even before he would have departed.

Once arrived in the city, uncle Cicero starts explaining that joining the force is actually hard, if not impossible, given the exams one needs to pass, the regular documents that have to be presented…it would take another year or more.

In the meantime, a policeman, who gives him an envelope with some money and some instructions regarding an individual that they would soon start to follow, visits him.

As the man is moving some things to his Peugeot car, Cicero tells his nephew to go to their fellow and keep him distracted; only the still simple young man does not know what to do.

He approaches the stranger, telling him that he is new in town and would like to know where he could find a club where nice girls are present and when the other is answering and giving him directions, blood and brains are spilled on the face of the young man who is horrified.

His uncle had just come from the back and shot the poor, unsuspecting victim in the head, and less than one meter away from Julio, who learns that this was a dispute over football.

He is aghast:

‘What do you mean? You killed him for a foul in a stupid football game.

Listen…I do not care what the reason is! I just do my job and kill the man I am paid to send away…

Besides, it is not me, it is God!

Are you religious?

Yes

It is God’s wish…if He wanted otherwise, the bullet would have missed and went somewhere else” words to that effect

Cicero had selected his nephew because he is an excellent shot, he does not have other skills, but he could kill wild boar and other animals like no other.

Therefore, there is an assignment for him very soon and he travels to this village, where a disabled young boy points out the target, a man who is selling produce in the local market…

The victim is followed to his home, where the would be killer calls and pretends he has a message, only to take his gun out and dispatch his first victim.

Cicero explains the few rules that guide the activity of a professional killer, who has to show some mercy in making the death as painless as possible and he must not murder other assassins…

Honor among thieves and among killers we might say

Perhaps we could mention one of the moments of very dark, gruesome humor and the scene wherein Julio meets Maria, the woman he would love and then marry, fathering a son.

He has an assignment and he follows the target to a bar, where he likes the woman serving the drinks, who is older than he is.

The man that has to die would keep talking about football, the team he loves, how they do not play well and looks like a very annoying figure…alas, not boring or infuriating enough to kill, but that is what Julio does…and this is only number 321 or so.