Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês (1971)

Director:

Nelson Pereira dos Santos

Writers:

Humberto Mauro (Tupi dialogue)
Nelson Pereira dos Santos (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

The Beginning of the Exploitation of Brazil

Plot:

In 1594 in Brazil, the Tupinambás Indians are friends of the Frenches and their enemies are the Tupiniquins...

Plot Keywords:

Native American Chief | Native American | Female Nudity | 1500s | Bow And Arrow

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Arduíno Colassanti	...	The Frenchman
Ana Maria Magalhães	...	Seboipepe
Eduardo Imbassahy Filho	...	Cunhambebe
Manfredo Colassanti	...	The tradesman
José Kléber	...	Ipiraguaçu
Gabriel Archanjo	...	Mbiratata
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gabriel Araújo
Ana Batista
João Amaro Batista
Hélio Fernando
Luiz Carlos Lacerda
Maria de Souza Lima
Wilson Manlio
Ana Maria Miranda
Célio Moreira	...	(voice)
Ital Natur
Janira Santiago
José Soares

Also Known As:

How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese | Tupi | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Condor Filmes

Trivia:

Almost all the dialogs is in an Indian language called Tupi.

One of best movies ever made, but then I have weird tastes

I saw this movie at a college film festival back in the 70's - I have been waiting FOREVER for this movie to come out on video (finally it's out). It was made in Brazil, so I assumed that was why it hadn't made it to video yet. I have been checking video stores for the past 15 years waiting for this outstanding movie to come out! It is one of my all-time favorites - but be warned, it is weird, like Werner Herzog weird - its weirdness stems from its super-realism.

The movie is based on a true incident back a few centuries ago, in pre-colonial times, when Europeans were first encountering the tribes in the Amazon. A white man is mistaken by a savage tribe of cannibals as their enemy, so they intend to kill him. Before they dispatch him, though, they make him part of their tribe (their custom). The entire movie is like watching a National Geographic documentary as he becomes an accepted member of their tribe. That's it. Cosmic plotline? No. Intense insight into the variety of human life? Definitely.

Oh yeah... be warned... this film has definite nudity - this is not some Hollywood schlock flick about noble savages... this film tells it like it was (re-read above: National Geographic, super-realism)