
Lying with faith is not always a sin.
The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small town in Northeastern Brazil. When they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary before they are admitted to paradise.
8.4
1208 reviewsRuntime: 104 min.
Budget: N/A
Revenue: $4,903,192
Release Date: 2000-09-15
Director(s): Guel Arraes
Production: Lereby Produções, Globo Filmes, Estúdios Globo
Languages: Latin, Portuguese
IMDB: tt0271383
Collection: O Auto da Compadecida: Coleção
This film is deeply steeped in Brazilian culture, which may make it inaccessible to some. It's based on a play by Ariano Suassuna, who made his life's mission to preserve Brazilian culture. If you're put off by the surrealistic religion scenes, keep in mind that this spiritualism was still firmly anchored in Brazil in 2000, along with the mash-up of African beliefs - candomblé. I loved the Laurel-and-Hardy style of comedy. The film was not short on laughs. The actors' comedic timing is spot on. The direction is totally in the style of the 20th century comedic soaps (novelas), which were (and maybe still are) wildly popular there.