{"product_id":"antonio-das-mortes-original-first-release-japanese-movie-poster-1969-b2-size-51-x-73cm-j156-copy","title":"\"Antonio das Mortes\" (アントニオ・ダス・モルテス), Original First Japanese Release Movie Poster 1970, Kiyoshi Awazu, Japan ATG, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) M216","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eThis is an \u003cstrong\u003eoriginal Japanese B2 theatrical poster\u003c\/strong\u003e printed in 1970 for the first Japanese release of Glauber Rocha’s landmark Brazilian film \u003cem\u003eAntonio das Mortes\u003c\/em\u003e—originally titled \u003cem\u003eO Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro\u003c\/em\u003e. Designed by the celebrated Japanese graphic artist \u003cstrong\u003eKiyoshi Awazu\u003c\/strong\u003e and distributed by the \u003cstrong\u003eJapan Art Theatre Guild\u003c\/strong\u003e, it is an important work at the intersection of international political cinema, the Japanese avant-garde and postwar graphic design.\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe institutional significance of the design is considerable: an example is held by the \u003cstrong\u003eNational Film Archive of Japan\u003c\/strong\u003e and was included in its major 2026 exhibition \u003cem\u003eThe Art of Film Posters in Japan: Revisited\u003c\/em\u003e, where it appeared within the section devoted to Awazu’s work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFilm background\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet in the arid sertão of north-eastern Brazil, the film follows Antônio das Mortes, a professional \u003cem\u003ejagunço\u003c\/em\u003e hired by a wealthy landowner to suppress a group of peasants and \u003cem\u003ecangaceiros\u003c\/em\u003e. Increasingly troubled by his role in maintaining a brutal social order, Antônio experiences a political and spiritual awakening and ultimately turns against the landowning establishment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRocha combines revolutionary politics, folk ritual, music, Catholic symbolism and the legend of Saint George and the dragon with the conventions of the Western. The result is one of the defining works of \u003cstrong\u003eCinema Novo\u003c\/strong\u003e, the Brazilian movement that sought to confront poverty, inequality and colonial power through formally radical filmmaking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePresented in competition at the \u003cstrong\u003e1969 Cannes Film Festival\u003c\/strong\u003e, the film earned Glauber Rocha the Best Director award, shared \u003cem\u003eex aequo\u003c\/em\u003e with Vojtěch Jasný. Its Japanese release followed on \u003cstrong\u003e24 October 1970\u003c\/strong\u003e, with Film Art Company presenting the film and Japan ATG handling distribution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJapan ATG played a central role in the country’s postwar art-house culture. Through its specialist cinema network, it distributed foreign films that fell outside the conventional programmes of Japan’s major studios and later supported some of the most experimental works of the Japanese New Wave. Its surviving posters are now collected both as film advertising and as independent works of graphic art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePoster design\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKiyoshi Awazu rejects the conventional photographic star montage in favour of a radical, Pop-inflected composition. A monumental halftone image of Antônio dominates the brilliant yellow central field. Wrapped in his cape and hat and holding his rifle horizontally, the figure becomes less a conventional portrait than a stark political and folkloric emblem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe outer border is constructed from a grid of heavily processed film stills printed in electric pink, cyan, yellow and monochrome. These repeated square images suggest both a strip of projected film and the visual rhythm of contemporary Pop Art, while allowing fragments of violence, ritual, poverty and religious symbolism to surround the central figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross the lower section, an enormous dark-green procession of peasants and armed followers advances through the landscape. Its dense collective form contrasts with Antônio’s solitary silhouette and visually anticipates his movement away from hired killer and towards defender of the oppressed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe forceful Japanese declaration \u003cstrong\u003e「第3世界の映像!!」\u003c\/strong\u003e translates as \u003cstrong\u003e“Images of the Third World!!”\u003c\/strong\u003e Above it, the publicity describes the film as the heroic, anguish-filled adventure of the killer Antônio, directed with boldness and possessing a primordial energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe multicoloured Japanese title, oversized English lettering and intense clashes of yellow, green, magenta and blue are characteristic of Awazu’s refusal of restrained modernist design. The \u003cstrong\u003eJapan ATG mark\u003c\/strong\u003e at the bottom firmly situates the poster within Japan’s radical art-house culture of the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis poster is in \u003cstrong\u003eVery Good+ condition and presents excellently\u003c\/strong\u003e. The colours remain exceptionally vivid, and the central image retains a powerful overall appearance. There is a \u003cstrong\u003eshort tear with associated creasing and minor colour loss along the right edge\u003c\/strong\u003e, clearly documented in the close-up photograph. Several small pieces of tape remain on the reverse at the corners and edges, consistent with previous display. These condition points are predominantly peripheral and, once framed, the poster will display extremely well (please refer to the imagery of the front, reverse and detailed close-up of the exact poster for sale).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is over \u003cstrong\u003e55 years old\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is \u003cstrong\u003enot a reproduction or a reprint\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate of Authenticity included.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Japan Poster Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57165981483386,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/8859\/4591\/files\/wall-shelf-with-ornaments-2026-08-15T062504.954.jpg?v=1786742770","url":"https:\/\/japanposter.co.uk\/products\/antonio-das-mortes-original-first-release-japanese-movie-poster-1969-b2-size-51-x-73cm-j156-copy","provider":"Japan Poster Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}