Joaquim Pedro de Andrade Movies

Ranging from ribald and erotic to exceedingly explicit, these four stories are each rather brief and to the point. The first is a tale about a unfulfilled housewife and what happens when her uninterested husband brings a dashing young student home for lunch. The next segment is about a young woman who is sent to live with her celibate elderly aunts so she will not continue to pursue the sexual side of her nature. The result is not what her parents expected. The third story is about love in the vegetable patch, and the last is graphic enough to get Contos Eroticos banned in Brazil. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Revolutionaries in 16th-century Brazil come in for close study in this 1972 Brazilian/Italian film. A group of intellectuals, with the exception of a Corporal Tiradentes, these revolutionaries plotted the overthrow of the Portuguese colonial government. In a compelling scene, an informer slips into the governor's bathtub to tell him of the group's plans. The entire group was rounded up and put in prison where, Inquisition-like, they were tortured until they recanted. Only Tiradentes refused, and was killed. One of the film's ironic moments is a shot of modern Brazil officially celebrating the dedication of this lone patriot. It is ironic, because the country was under the control of an undemocratic, strict military government at the time. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Macunaíma is a black native from the forests of Brazil in this satirical comedy. When he bathes in a magic stream, he is turned into a white man. He goes into town and becomes the lover of a female revolutionary. She is killed by her own time bomb and her good-luck charm is found by an Italian. The man becomes a millionaire. Macunaíma goes to visit the lucky man and almost ends up on the menu. He returns to the jungle where he is abandoned by his followers and family for lying about food. The once-fortunate man sits alone as he tells his story to the only creature who will listen, a parrot. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi