O Pagador de Promessas

1962 · Anselmo Duarte

Zé do Burro, a poor Brazilian farmer, promises an Afro-Brazilian orisha that if his beloved donkey recovers from illness, he will carry a wooden cross on a 29-mile pilgrimage and donate his land to the poor. When he arrives at a Catholic church to fulfill his vow, the priest refuses to accept a promise made to a "pagan" spirit, triggering a media frenzy that recasts Zé's simple act of faith as a communist land-reform stunt and a battle over religious syncretism. Anselmo Duarte's drama follows the naive, devout Zé being pulled apart by opportunists on every side as his one honest gesture spirals out of his control.

Director

Anselmo Duarte

Studio

Cinedistri

Starring

Leonardo Villar, Glória Menezes, Norma Bengell, Dionísio Azevedo