‘Os Forcados’

As the bugle sounds the Forcados leap into the arena led by the cabo or "corporal", this is where the last hint of any sign of intelligence is traded for courage (or stupidity depending on your point of view). Their task begins by facing the bull in single file, with the cabo heading the group. Typically at this point, the bull will be at one end of the ring, the Forcados at the other. A dramatic stare-off begins this is called the caras, during which the cabo taunts the bull through verbal calls and physical gesticulations, the sole aim of which is to incite the bull into a charge. It is the job of the cabo to absorb the bull’s full impact by placing himself between the bull's horns then the remaining Forcados must work as a single unit, each man grabbing a different part of the animal's body, until it is fully motionless.

The Forcados represent the common man in the hierarchical world of Portuguese Bullfighting, the proletariat to the aristocracy of the equestrian Cavaleiros. ‘Os Forcados’ offers an intriguing and colourful insight into the brotherhood and community of the Forcados and an examination of the intrinsic differences between the Portuguese and Spanish tradition of Bullfighting.