Man of the Year, by Jose Henrique Fonseca, is yet another incredible release by the Film Movement. When Maiquel (Murilo Benicio) shoots a local thug in the back, his life turns upside down. He struggles with the existential dilemma between being a made man or a regular
husband to his hairdresser turned
girlfriend Cledir (Claudia Abreu). The only problem is Érica (Natália Lage), the deceased’s girlfriend, who shows up at his door unannounced, and refuses to leave. He agrees to take
care of her, but it comes at a heavy
cost as she gives her two cents and attempts to micromanage his life. At the same time, Cledir suggests that he visits the dentist (Jorge Dória), who agrees to fix his teeth, if he kills a young black that took the life of his
daughter years ago.The dentist and his organization have a serious problem with blacks and mulattos, and continue to send Maiquel on these assignments to take out different thugs in the area. Dirty cops praise his
work and agree to look the other way, yet only in the individual district they have jurisdiction in. Maiquel digresses towards an affair with Érica, of which Cledir has simply refused to deal with until Érica confronts Maiquel one fine afternoon at Maiquel’s mother and laws house. Maiquel would rather continue to take
care of Érica, than have her serve
God through servitude in the church. In an argument he kills Cledir, whose
body he attempts to hide at one of his friend’s house. He could get away with the crime, except that a
police detective from another jurisdiction is on the case.The dentist suggests that Maiquel turn himself in and let some time pass by and resurface, but Maiquel is not willing to go that route. Érica leaves him yet again, this time going back into hiding and having taken 20 grand and his
daughter from his marriage. Maiquel then goes around and kills the dentist and his other associates, yet by now the same blacks and mulattos he was assigned to kill have taken out his entire crew. This is not merely a story about a crazed man who dies his
hair blonde and kills a thug for calling him a homosexual. This is not even a story about an outcast who domesticates a pig and takes a transient into his home; only to allow her to ruin everything he has worked for. This is a coming
age story about a man who gets swept up into a life of crime, not so much for the money, but because he hasn’t any other idea about what to do with his life. Every time he attempts to live a normal life, and walk away from it all, his peers continue to reinforce the negativity that found him in his abysmal state to begin with. This is a must see for anyone who is into
crime movies, although keep in mind that the language is Portuguese, and you have to read the subtitles on this independent release.
