Madame Satã (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Karim Ainouz

Writers:

Karim Ainouz (writer)
Marcelo Gomes (writer)

Release Date:

8 November 2002 (Brazil)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Music

Plot:

Loose portrait of João Francisco dos Santos, also known as Madame Satã, a sometime chef, transvestite, lover, father, hero and convict from Rio de Janeiro.

Plot Keywords:

Transvestite | Prostitute | Lover | Baby | Pimp

Awards:

21 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Lázaro Ramos	...	João Francisco dos Santos / Madame Satã
Marcelia Cartaxo	...	Laurita
Flavio Bauraqui	...	Tabu
Fellipe Marques	...	Renatinho
Renata Sorrah	...	Vitória
Emiliano Queiroz	...	Amador
Giovana Barbosa	...	Firmina
Ricardo Blat	...	José
Guilherme Piva	...	Álvaro
Marcelo Valle	...	Delegado
Floriano Peixoto	...	Gregório
Gero Camilo	...	Agapito
Gláucio Gomes	...	Gordo no Danúbio (Fat man)
Orã Figueiredo	...	Policial
Karine Teles

Runtime:

105 min | Argentina:105 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | France:97 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil | France

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Hungary:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Netherlands:16 | USA:Unrated | Mexico:C | Argentina:18 | Brazil:16

Company:

VideoFilmes

Movie Connections:

References A Rainha Diaba (1974)

Soundtrack:

Mulato Bamba

striking, colorful and brooding

Madame Sata is one of the most colorful, agitating, controversial, shifting, restless, erratic films you could ever watch on silver screen. The protagonist is also the antagonist with his often irrational and aggressive behaviour, possibly a trademark of Joao Francisco himself on which the film is based on, although this could be one of the film's flaws. The characters are as lively and colorful as he is and the acting is quite well, too.



An activist and a pioneer in many ways in the Brasil of 1930's, he could be seen as a gay activist, a transvestite activist, a swinger activist, a one-man-show pioneer, a strong, willful, self-confident and proud individual who defies almost all possible rules, regulations and conventions of his time, and not because he wants to be standing out.



Although the story line and Francisco's character are quite fanciful and interesting, the dialogues seem to be pretentious, the character build-up insufficient and the editing quite confusing, causing the overall feel to be incomplete and puzzling.