This movie is strange. If you know this director, you know he does it like that. He does not have a big budget, and his attitude is quite underground. He's been doing it steadily since the sixties. You either love it how he does it or leave it. Many times it looks like he's making it up as the shooting happens, but I hear it is far from the truth. This is probably the most accessible of his movies, because the music is so fantastic it ends up looking like a collection of weird musical clips of old Brazilian hits sung by this famous singer. The singer himself seems to have been quite a curious character, and it looks like the movie is supposed to mirror this in its images. God knows it worked for me. I saw it some seven times, and always left in a daze, touched by such a wonder that was almost beyond words. And it is also very funny at times. This is really one of a kind.
Review of The Mandarin
