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In the northeastern region of Brazil, local farmers are unable to grow sufficient crops on their arid land. When a holy man arrives and claims that his "sacred" ox will bring them rain if they follow where it leads, the naive peasants believe him. They follow the mystical creature to a nearby village where soldiers are posted to guard the mayor's store of provisions. Here, the tension culminates in a clash between the starving peasants and the armed guards, and needless deaths occur. Os Fuzis/The Guns illustrates characteristics of the South American Cinema Novo movement with its expressive blend of aesthetic composition and powerful socio-political subject matter. Screenwriter/director Ruy Guerra released this feature only three years after his successful and controversial debut, Os Cafajestes/Unscrupulous (1962). In 1972, Guerra would appear onscreen as Don Pedro de Ursua in Werner Herzog's Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes/ Aguirre, the Wrath of God.