How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971/New Yorker)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C+ Film: B-
Made
during the darker years of Brazil in 1971, though the film takes place in 1568,
Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ How Tasty Was
My Little Frenchman at first looks like what would happen if Mel Gibson had
made Apocalypto with Monty
Python. However, any comedy comes from
the disorientation of so much nudity, especially more male nudity than any
other legitimate film (including so many XXX films of any kind considering the
numerous cast extras running around with nothing on, females included here)
that most used to sanitized Hollywood product and/or the numerous cheapened
sexual images will laugh and not know why.
What is
also funny are the possibilities of cannibalism in the midst of the culture
clash between the Portuguese and French, who are at war over Colonialism and
accept the Frenchman who wants to be accepted in the culture, but might as well
go live with Werner Herzog’s grizzly bears.
A romance even develops and especially against Brazil as oppressor
nation, the subtext is as subversive as the visual text is now more than
ever. This is clearly obvious as you se
what the film is really about and even Cannes rejected the film for nudity
showing they are not as progressive as it would appear, though the critique of
France itself was more likely the reason.
This
release was delayed for a while and the 1.33 X 1 image is supposed to come from
a new digital transfer from the original negative, but has much softness and constant
slight redness throughout. I like the
cinematography by Dib Lutfi, but it deserves better and the release of this
disc will hopefully get an HD release to see what we are missing from the DVD’s
limits here. Wonder what condition the
negative is in. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Tupi/French/Portuguese
Mono is also aged and flat, but is not as rough as you might think, no matter
how compressed it can sound. Extras
include trailers for four other New Yorker releases, interviews with Ailton (a
member of the Kremak tribe in the film) & film critic Richard Pena and text
essay in the DVD case about the film by Darlene J. Sadler. All are worth a serious look for serious film
fans, but watch the film first.
- Nicholas Sheffo
