Belarmino

Belarmino
  • Release date: 18 Nov 1964
  • Release year: 1964
  • Runtime: 80 minutes
  • Country: Portugal
  • Keywords: character name as title, forename as title, boxing, champion, one word title, cinema verite, prize fighter, nightclub, jazz, decay
Plot:
Former boxing champion Belarmino is interviewed about his private life, his career or lack of, and his present routines. Baptista-Bastos, the investigative reporter (off-camera except for a brief, long distance shot), has two advantages: he has done gloves in the same popular club where Belarmino started, and he knows him well. Belarmino, a man of no culture, dodges the most probing questions like a smart lawyer, sometimes attacking other people, and always facing the adversary head-on (camera in close-up). The interview is completed with contradictory views by Belarmino's former manager, scenes of his daily routine at home or a cheap restaurant with his wife and daughter, ogling the women in the street or watching a strip-tease show (the camera focusing on his face only), as well as scenes of him training and boxing. From illiterate shoe-cleaner to a brief moment of glory, back to humble unqualified work as cleaner and night-club doorman.
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