Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês

I was hardly aware of the time in history depicted in this 1971 Brazilian black comedy, however that is not to say it wasn't accessible to me because the movie makes it very clear. It's set in 16th century Brazil, where rival French and Portuguese settlers are exploiting the indigineous people as confederates in their battle to assert dominance. What is particularly interesting about the movie is that it is made by the Portuguese from the point of view of the French. The hero is a likable Frenchman, the Portuguese are barbarians, and the rest of the French are oppressive and greedy. The film's Portuguese makers are objective because when all is said and done, we see that it makes no difference whose side one takes. It's about heredity overpowered by environment in a time starkly defined by tribes. Enemies are made and perpetuated, and like so, the environmental integration never progresses.

A Frenchman is captured by the Portuguese is then captured by an indigenous tribe, the Tupinambas, after they massacre a group of Portuguese. The tribe's shaman predicted they would find a strong Portuguese man to cannibalize as revenge for the chief's brother being killed by a Portugeuse musket ball. Thinking the Frenchman is Portuguese, they believe they now have one. Nevertheless, the Frenchman is granted unrestrained course of the village, is sooner or later given a wife, and assumes their accustomed appearance rather than his Western clothes, or any clothes. Another Frenchman comes to the village and tells the tribe that their prisoner is indeed Portuguese, then assures the incensed Frenchman that he will tell them the truth when the Frenchman finds a secret treasure trove that another European has hidden nearby.

I found the opening scene funny, because its narration apposed with its contradictions on- screen serve as great satire, even if the movie didn't seem to want to maintain that tone very much more often. It's actually not a terribly riveting film. The bountiful, essential locale, fierce way of life and ripened native women make not only the Frenchman, but us, too, forget any threat, and we have the feeling of him as a free man. It should not be that terribly hard to escape. The cannibalism is as scarce of desire as the full-frontal nudity of the cast, suggested in lieu as the representative core of Pereira dos Santos's dry political cartoon of New World mythology and undeveloped social coherence. At any rate, this 1500s-era social commentary, shot on location at a bay with 365 islands, played almost entirely nude and almost entirely written in Tupi, encourages effective breakdown of established ways which are topical because they've repeated themselves for centuries.

How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman tells a story that is alternately sad, scary and life-affirming. It ends with a brutal finale that you knew had to happen, even though you were hoping--maybe even beleiving--it wouldn't.

Utlimately, this is the film's greatest strength: it expertly plays with your emotions and expectations, then drops a bomb on you.

I saw this in a film theory class at USC back in the mid-'90s. It is not easy to find, but is definitely worth hunting for.

Another movie I watched from Cinema Novo, this time for the fourth class of the course taught by Prof. Alisson Gutemberg for the Film Analysis Club (Cinema with Theory).

The film is part of the third and final phase of Cinema Novo, when colors and a tone of comedy were adopted by the directors, especially in Como Era Gostoso O Meu Francês and Macunaíma (also the theme of the same class).

How delicious my French was, directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos and it's not an easy film to understand if you don't know a little about the history of Brazil. Most of the dialogues are in the Tupi language (credits to the great filmmaker Humberto Mauro), a language spoken by the Tupiniquim and Tupinambá tribes. There is little speaking in French and Portuguese from Portugal. None of the dialogues have subtitles for Portuguese. Thus, we have to understand what happens on the screens through the images, through what we know about Brazilian history and through the intertitles with excerpts from historical documents signed by Mem de Sá, Hans Staden, among others.

The film's prologue leads us to believe that we will be watching a comedy, as a narrator tells a story, but the scenes we see are completely the opposite of what we see. Something like passing the wrong information, the so-called current fake news, as if it were the truth. But after the prologue is over, the film takes on a documentary air. However, it makes a new reading of what we have learned in history, with the Indians having complete control of the situation and fighting on an equal footing with the Portuguese and French invaders. It has a clear reference to the Modern Art Week of 1922, when the anthropophagic movement was launched. In the film, we have literal anthropophagy, as the tupinambás were cannibals and prepared the French to eat it in commemoration of the victory in the war against the tupiniquins, and metaphorical anthropophagy, which the modernist movement preached, that is, swallowing foreign culture to to create a new culture, totally Brazilian, in the film represented by the French assimilation of habits and customs of the tribe in which he was a prisoner, becoming one of them, walking naked, hunting and even with the same haircut as the other Indians.

It was the first time I saw this movie and I confess that I was a little bored, mainly because I had to listen to a language I don't know, without having a translation. I felt like I was watching a silent film, with intertitles, but with colors and dialogue.

Another point to highlight is the influence of Tropicalismo, a movement that began in the late 1960s, early 1970s, with the appreciation of Brazilian colors and landscapes.

In 1594 in Brazil, the Tupinambas Indians are friends of the Frenches and their enemies are the Tupiniquins, friends of the Portugueses. A Frenchman (Arduíno Colassanti) is captured by the Tupinambás, and in spite of his trial to convince them that he is French, they believe he is Portuguese. The Frenchman becomes their slave, and maritally lives with Seboipepe (Ana Maria Magalhães). Later, he uses powder in the cannons that the Portuguese left behind to defeat the Tupiniquins in a battle. In order to celebrate the victory, the Indians decide to eat him.

"Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês" is another great low budget movie of the great Brazilian director Nélson Pereira dos Santos. The screenplay is very original and the story is spoken in Tupi. The film is shot using natural light most of the time and is very realistic. The actors and actresses perform naked and Ana Maria Magalhães is magnificent, showing a wonderful body and giving a stunning performance. The sound is produced by the Brazilian musician Zé Rodrix. This movie shows the beginning of the exploitation of my country by Europeans, focusing in the Portuguese and French at that time, trading with the Indians and exchanging combs and mirrors by our natural resources. This movie was awarded in the national festivals, such as the 1971 Brazilian Cinema Festival of Brasília (Festival de Brazília do Cinema Brasileiro) with Best Screenplay (Nelson Pereira dos Santos), Best Dialog (Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Humberto Mauro) and Best Cenograph (Régis Monteiro); Art Critics Association of São Paulo (Associação Paulista dos Críticos de Arte), with best Revelation of the Year (Ana Maria Magalhães) and some other prizes. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês" ("How Tasty Was My Frenchman")

Why have I never heard of this remarkable film before? It is totally riveting, engrossing. A Frenchman is captured by an Indian tribe in coastal Brazil not so long after Columbus discovered the New World. He is taken as a slave into the village, given a beautiful girl (widow of a warrior he had killed) as his wife, and told that in eight months they will eat him.

The growth of his relationship with the tribe and his native bride, and his acceptance of their ways - while still desperately searching for ways to escape - are spellbinding. This is authentically done, so no-one in the movie wears much more than a string of beads. But you quickly realise how superficial clothes are, and before long you cease noticing that no-one is wearing any. As for the climax - oh boy....