In Roberto Farias’ Assalto ao Trem Pagador (US: Assault on the Pay Train), the train robbery occurs even before the opening credits. A brilliant combination of social realism and late-cycle film noir, Farias’ film follows a heist’s aftermath, not its preparation, following the thieves as they divide up the loot and go off to live their lives in impoverished Rio de Janeiro where Tião Medonho (Eliezer Gomes) lives in squalid conditions with his wife and little boys while Grilo Peru (Reginaldo Faria, who also starred in Farias’ earlier Cidade Ameaçada, 1960) hobnobs with the rich and not so famous on the wealthy side of town. To keep law enforcement off their tails, the thieves agree not to spend more than ten percent of the money in the first year, a covenant that proves nearly impossible to follow for all, particularly Peru, who believes his lighter skin and blue eyes make him look less suspicious and more naturally wealthy than the others; Peru’s arrogance culminates in a racist tirade and grisly assault. Enlivened and intensified by Usai’s percussion-heavy score, Farias builds the momentum to a crescendo of chaos as police, swarmed by crowds, ransack home after home until they find the missing cash, the final shot lingering on innocence choked off by a cloud of dust.