Bye Bye Brazil (New Yorker DVD-Video)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C - Film: B
The late
1970s became a key time for cinema to reemerge in Brazil and some remarkable,
important films like Hector Babenco’s Pixote
were among the results. Up there with it
is Carlos Diegues’ Bye Bye Brazil
(1979), a comedy/drama set around a traveling carnival that (appropriately
considering the chaos after a quarter century of dictatorship among other
upheavals) represents a wide range and variety of what the country is about in
microcosm. This kind of project is
usually high concept and fails, but it is most ambitious here and works.
Cico
(Fabio Junior, no relation to the romance novel model) sees the Carnival
Rolidei arrive in town, then quickly falls for performer Salome (Betty Faria) and
finds himself involved with a world that is more interesting than before they
showed up. It also becomes a metaphor
for the true nature of the country to slowly open up. Salome is not able to love back being
objectified for so long, while Cico is unfortunately married with a daughter
just arrived.
They are
the main focus of the story, but the Diegues/Leopoldo Serran screenplay has subtle
touches we do not see often enough in films today offering the kinds of moments
that better filmmakers know how to put up on screen. That also means all kinds of interesting
energy throughout. The cast is very
convincing overall and in a nice move, the actual carnival is not fetishized or
made out to be the (stereo)typical bore we often get in films about them. It’s been a long while since I have seen this
film and I was pleasantly surprised how well it held up.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image starts with some great color images in
the credits, than there is a sudden drop-off in depth, detail and color
fidelity with haze and softness beyond any styling throughout. Sad, because this is obviously a nicely shot
film by Director of Photography Lauro Escorel Filho and only an HD transfer (or
format for that matter) is going to do it justice. The Dolby Digital Portuguese 2.0 Mono is not
bad for its age with various music sources as expected, though Chico Buarque
supplies original music that works well.
Extras only include a trailer for this and four other New Yorker
releases, but the film is worth getting out there in any form, though it
deserves a special e3ditoon down the line.
- Nicholas Sheffo
