As the tragedies mount, Moura's film becomes an elegy - not so much to Marighella as to an idealism consumed by the pyrrhic games of dirty regimes.

"Marighella" isn't interested in weighing ethics, preferring a testosterone-charged portrait of armed insurrection as a glorious pathway to martyrdom.

Once you accept its binary us-and-them worldview, Marighella works fine as an exciting and highly assured debut, with a terrific ensemble cast at its heart.

Though the film would have benefitted from exploring further into the earlier origins of Carlos Marighella, a mesmerising performance from Seu Jorge makes this a worthy introduction to the Afro-Brazilian revolutionary.