Chico Azevedo Really, i am a Brazilian man and i'm proud of my country and i'm used to believe the potential of Brazil to strike on the movies ( city of god is proof of this ) But honestly i just thought that macunaima was enough to make me sick. Even if it's based on a surrealist book rited by Mario De andrade, the surrealism is not impressive, funny, or gorgeous, in other words it sounds more like a madhouse. Even with the talented cast and a good acting of Grande Otelo, the direction, the photography, the production and camera settings are terrible. I really thought for a moment that someone in the set was drugged with some weird chemical, and i have no doubts that could be director of this movie.

gustavo_ma92 I'm not sure if non-Brazilian people will completely get the message. The character of Macunaíma represents Brazilian natives. He is a critic made by Mário de Andrade through Brazilian Indian legends to Brazilian people. Of course it's all exaggerated in Macunaíma. It criticizes many aspects of the Brazilian way, for example all black people who want to be white(the episode of the magical fountain). The story of the book has been adapted to the 60's and set during the Brazilian military dictatorship. Macunaíma, "the hero without any character"(which also represents a break with the classical hero concept), hides food from his family, sleeps as much as he can, and cares only about himself. After they go to the big city, he meets a guerrilla-girl named Ci, which means 'mother' in the Tupi language, and marries her. They have a child, and then she dies and loses her Muiraquitã(a lucky charm), which is found by the villain Venceslau Pietro-Pietra(the cannibal bourgeois). Macunaíma then goes on a quest to recover it(because it would bring him good fortune), and goes to a Candomblé(an Afro-Brazilian religion) dance to set a kind of voodoo curse on Pietro-Pietra. This way, all Brazilian culture is mixed up in the film, in an "Antropophagical" way to symbolize every important aspect of Brazil. A beautiful way for Joaquim Pedro de Andrade to show his love for his country. He once said "I can only talk about Brazil".

miszel I'm not sure if I understood even half the cultural and political references this film makes. After all it is Brazilian and from the late 60's. In many ways a product of that era but because it seems to be based on fairy tales or legends there's an interesting timeless quality to it as well. That and the outrageous sight gags, combined with crazy costumes makes this seem like a live-action cartoon. Definitely a fun ride through jungles filled with carnivorous nymphs, machine-gun toting topless commandos, men changing race when they smoke marijuana, a piranha pool party and much much more! Well worth a look though you may need a friend versed in Brazilian history & culture to make sense of it all. The restored 2K print is absolutely gorgeous.

NateManD Macunaima is Monty Python meets Jodorowsky and Robert Downey Sr. in a pool of piranhas. A full-grown black man, a " Brazillian hero", is birthed from a white woman in drag in the middle of the jungle. He discovers a magical water fountain that turns him white. He moves to the city, falls in love with a bomb bearing urban radical activist who wears a magic stone necklace that brings good luck. The magic necklace is stolen by a by an evil corporate cannibalistic millionaire. This causes a bomb to kill his wife and son (done in such a cartoonish way that it is all the more ridiculous). At this, Macunaima is plagued with bad luck through many of his misadventures and wants to get back the necklace from the evil corporate honcho. Part social satire, part serious political commentary set in a folklore steeped surreal Brazil. Based on the 1928 novel by Mario De Andrade that is considered on of the founding texts of Brazilian modernism; and the film itself is widely considered one of the most important films of the Brazilian Cinema Novo. But if you forget all the academics, it's a wild, weird, colorful, magical, surreal wonder-work with endless memorable moments, such as: a defecating goose, a pool of piranhas in which people swing above on a trapeze until they fall in, a water nymph and much more!! Who can forget such brilliant one liners such as "God gives nuts to those with no teeth". This film is a must see! One of the funniest films of any country! An underrated gem!