The spiritual traditions all have a role for the prankster — Nasrudin in Sufism, Coyote in Native American spirituality, the Holy Fool in Christianity. These minstrels of madness want to drive us out of our minds, knowing that from there we will see things from a different perspective. Maybe we will realize that we are not in charge and that play is a way to relax a bit and let go of our habitual ways of being in the world. In some Indian tribes, these crazy ones are called sacred clowns. They take on animal forms, disrupting solemn proceedings with their bawdy antics of wild sexuality.
It's good to keep such masters of revelry in mind while watching this 1969 Brazilian movie written, directed, and produced by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade. This robust comedy includes elements of buffoonery, satire of studio movies, political commentary, and a quest motif. The only way to make it through all the zany twists and turns and silly moments is to let your inner child take over for a while. Put aside your critical consciousness and go with the flow of the comic bits, the outrageous shifts, and the Dionysian rhythms of the story.
Macunaima is born ugly in the jungle and uses his pacifier to sooth his jangled nerves. He doesn't speak for a long time. His two brothers try their best to ignore him. One day when he is being looked after by one of their women, he is magically transformed into a handsome white prince. The woman is delighted when he services her with relish. But after a short interlude, he changes back into a black man. When Macunaima is discovered trying to keep food from other family members after a flood, he is abandoned in the wilderness. He meets an ogre who feeds him a slice of his leg, but he then must flee for his life.
Following the death of their mother, the reunited brothers head off toward the city. Macunaima is permanently transformed into a white man after stepping into a gushing spring. His libido is satisfied when he links up with Ci, a wild woman who is a revolutionary. She wears a magical amulet around her neck which is supposed to bring her good luck. But she dies when a bomb that she is carrying in the baby carriage with their son explodes. Macunaima is kidnapped by some women who have their way with him aboard a boat. But when he learns that an industrialist also has a magical amulet that has brought him great wealth, this prankster dresses up like a woman and tries to seduce him into giving up the charm.
This Brazilian parable reveals the strange ways in which our appetites often get the better of us. Whether creating an insatiable craving for sex or gobbling up as much wealth as we can, the hungry ghost inside us can never get enough and is perpetually unsatisfied.
Screened at the 42nd New York Film Festival, October 2004.
