Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa

A film made due high popularity of three pop rock singers (Roberto Carlos, Wanderléa and Erasmo Carlos), it is by far the best of their movies. Indeed, it is very amusing and funny, with a simple but nice adventure story, with fantasy elements, and a quite good end. Great actor José Lewgoy has a remarkable performance as the master-of-desguise villain. The film's style seems sometimes cartoon, despite not being animated, and it is nice too. The Brazilian film reminded me a famous Hollywood one, Big trouble in Little China, but this one came much later, in 1986, while the one from Brazil was released in 1968! It is a great production considering modest budget in Brazilian cinema, with scenes shot in Japan and Israel, besides Rio de Janeiro. Being a nice action-fantasy unpretensious flick, its only problem in my opinion is that the many musical scenes do not fit well. As a movie of music stars, it is expected to have several musical scenes (just see Elvis Presley or The Beatles' movies for compairing), but the problem is that lyrics of selected songs had no relation with what was going on in the script.

While shopping in Tokyo with Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos, Wanderléia decides to buy a statuette of stone in a store in a mall. The trio of friends has an argument with a stranger (José Lewgoy) that is also interested in the antique and they are followed by the man and his henchmen. They fight in a desert area and the man breaks the object. On the next morning, the trio has to travel to Israel but Wanderléia decides to buy another statuette. She never appears in the flight but a couple of days later, a genius tells to Roberto and Erasmo that he has come from the magic statuette and he brings Wanderléia back to her friends in Jerusalem. They find a map inside the statuette but the stranger lures them and steals the map. However, they retrieve the map and try to decipher its content in a mouse-and-cat game with the stranger. They discover that the map indicates the location of a hidden treasure and they head to Rio de Janeiro trying to find the stone where the mythological ibis is carved. They find that the location is in the Pão de Açúcar and the treasure is in the Pedra da Gávea; but the stranger has not relinquished of retrieving the map.

"Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa" is a naive musical adventure for fans of Roberto Carlos and the "Jovem Guarda" only. The lame screenplay has very poor dialogs and acting; it is actually a tour through Tokyo, Jerusalem and Rio de Janeiro to promote Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, Wanderléia and their songs and also Gal Costa's Tuareg. The best that this film offers are the images of the Rio de Janeiro in the late 60's and the priceless sensation of nostalgia for those like me that has lived those years in the Wonderful City. My vote is five.

Tltle (Brazil): "Roberto Carlos e o Diamante Cor-de-Rosa" ("Roberto Carlos and the Pink Diamond")

The director Roberto Farias made a near masterpiece " Assalto ao Trem Pagador" after that he entered in a decay and made movies like that, a vehicle to a tropical kitsch pop star called Roberto Carlos, although the movie had a fine box office the movie was a low degree in many ways, the songs sangs along the movie were very in bad taste, made just for their fans and few they are not, the plot is pretty silly allowed for juvenile audience only, had some moments like showing the amazing Rio de Janeiro and Gavea's stone and of course the beautiful Wanderléa"s legs!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1976 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 5

Delightful musical adventure starring the most famous Brazilian pop star of all times, Roberto Carlos. In this movie he and his eternal partners (Erasmo and Wanderlea) get involved in a rollercoaster adventure around the search for an old and magic powerful diamond.Lots of beautiful songs, great footages of Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Jerusalem and a nostalgic atmosphere of the 60's. If you want to know better about the most important youth musical movement in Brazil (called "Jovem Guarda") see this one.