Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Brazil, 1982, 35mm, 106 min., Portuguese w/ English subtitles
“Andrade’s final feature was arguably his greatest…bemused, sexy, and positively ecstatic take on the life, work, and ideas of Oswald de Andrade, author of two cornerstones of Brazilian modernism, the 1924 ‘Manifesto of Brazilwood Poetry’ and the 1928 ‘Anthropophagic Manifesto’ or ‘Cannibalist Manifesto.’ In a sense, this is Andrade’s second homage to his namesake: the protagonist of Macunaíma, in contrast to that of the original novel, was partly modeled on Oswald. Echoing the dual nature of that character, who is born as a fully grown adult and is transformed from black to white, The Brazilwood Man gives us a double Oswald: a man and a cross-dressed woman appear together on screen, simultaneously playing the writer. In the end, the female Oswald, inspired by the manifesto’s call for a revolutionary cannibalistic matriarchy, eats her male counterpart – just as Macunaíma, back in the jungle after his loss-filled journey, is devoured by a pond nymph. The wilderness claims everything alien to it, and by the time he returns, Macunaíma has become an Other. Lucid, sensual, and gloriously schizophrenic, The Brazilwood Man has the lilt of a musical, and sparkles like an elegant comedy of manners, bursting with ideas and innuendos.” — Olaf Möller, FILM COMMENT
