In Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Almeida (Tarcísio Meira) is the arrogant chief of the Financial Department of Maracanã Stadium, married with Cristina (Glória Menezes), who works in the Modern Art Museum. Carlos is loathed by his accountant and aspirant painter César Ferreira (Cláudio Marzo), who is frequently humiliated by Carlos. When Cristina meets César in an art gallery, he is seduced by the wife of his boss and they have a love affair. Sooner Cristina convinces Cesar to rob the income of a game in the stadium pretending to be Carlos. She gives a mold of Carlos' face to César and he prepares a mask; then he trains how to imitate the voice of Carlos. On the day of the game Flamengo x Botafogo, Cristina puts an opiate in Carlos' breakfast and César takes his place, luring his assistant Correia (Flávio Migliaccio) and the armored car driver Severino (Milton Gonçalves). Then César brings the money and deliver it to Cristina and Carlos is arrested by inspector Borges. The responsible for the insurance Marcelo tries to help his friend Carlos, but it seems that the heist followed a perfect plan and the evidences make Carlos the prime-suspect.
"Máscara da Traição" is a predictable, unrealistic and flawed but also enjoyable tale of betrayal. The story flirts with the film-noir genre but the screenplay is confused, giving the sensation that the edition is made in a wrong sequence. The film uses footages of two popular soccer games in Brazil, Vasco x Fluminense and FLAMENGO x Botafogo, and for fans of this sport is a great chance to see the players of these teams.Further, there are many scenes with landscapes of my Wonderful City in the late 60's. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Máscara da Traição" ("Mask of the Betrayal")
