Besouro

Besouro is a 2009 Brazilian feature film directed by João Daniel Tikhomiroff. It was made as a co-production of Miravista, Globo Filmes, Mixer Films, RT2A Produções Cinematográficas and Teleimage and runs for 95 minutes. In Czechia it is released under the title Besouro. The story is set in Bahia in the nineteen-twenties and is based on the life of the real capoeirista Besouro Mangangá. The title role is played by Aílton Carmo, and his teacher Mestre Alípio is played by Macalé dos Santos. The film shows Besouro's training in capoeira under Mestre Alípio in Trapiche de Baixo in Santo Amaro, that is, at the place where, according to sources, the real Besouro also trained. The film presents capoeira as the art of the enslaved and their descendants and as a tool of resistance against oppression. To the historical basis it adds fictional elements, spiritual mythology and supernatural abilities, which draw on the legends handed down about Besouro. The fight scenes were choreographed by Huen Chiu Ku (also Huan-Chiu Ku in English-language sources), named as the choreographer of Kill Bill. Filming took three months in the state of Bahia. How the fight scenes were shot and whether the lead actors practise capoeira themselves, we have not been able to establish from the sources.

Martial arts in this work

Fact and fiction

The real Besouro Mangangá was named Manoel Henrique Pereira. He was born in 1895 in Santo Amaro in Bahia and died there in 1924. He learned capoeira from Mestre Alípio in Trapiche de Baixo, and the film portrays this part of his life in the same place. Historians state that his arrests were connected with conflicts with the police, especially during his army service, and not with ordinary crime. The legend handed down attributes to him a "corpo fechado", a closed body resistant to weapons, and the ability to turn into a beetle and fly away. According to English-language sources, his nickname derives from this belief, whereas a Portuguese article about the film links it to his agility. The film takes these supernatural elements into the story and adds spiritual mythology to them.

People and martial arts

• João Daniel TikhomiroffDirector
• Huen Chiu KuFight choreographer
• Aílton CarmoActor — as Besouro Mangangá· Capoeira (portrays the art on screen)
• Macalé dos SantosActor — as Mestre Alípio· Capoeira (portrays the art on screen)