Madame Sata is the story of Joao Francisco dos Santos, the legendary Brazilian wild thing who found fame as the female impersonator Madame Sata -- when he wasn't in prison.
This one has beads of sweat all over it.
Erotic, violent and bursting with colour, Madame Sata is set in the '30s in the Lapa district of Rio de Janeiro. The residents are a mix of prostitutes, pimps, criminals, musicians, the poor, the outcast and the disenfranchized in general.
Lazaro Ramos gives a stunning performance as Joao, a handsome, ambitious gay man of great physical strength and beauty. Joao has a "family" that consists of the prostitute Laurita (Marcelia Cartaxo), her infant daughter -- whom Joao has adopted -- and their house sevant Taboo (Flavio Bauraqui).
Most of the story here is Joao's struggle to overcome the cruelty that comes his way because he is black, poor and gay. He is endlessly fighting, defending himself and getting into trouble because he refuses to be treated like a second-class citizen. His passionate love affair with a young petty criminal named Renatinho (Felipe Marques) is presented as the catalyst for various changes in Joao's life. For love, Joao gives himself up to police and goes to prison, and for love lost, Joao finally embraces his desire to be a cabaret performer.
Madame Sata has Joao watching Josephine Baker, naming himself after the Cecil B. DeMille film Madame Satan and at last creating a sensation with his female impersonation act. Then, suddenly, an act of violence finds him imprisoned for a decade, after which, the story tell us, he became a big hit at carnival, seemingly without pausing for breath. Madame Sata is just getting interesting and then it's over, a strange wrap-up of the narrative that leaves a viewer keen to know more about this character.
Joao Francisco dos Santos lived from 1900 to 1976, adopted about a dozen children and spent some 27 years of his life in prison. Madame Sata seems only to scratch the surface.
Still, that surface is wonderful to look at, filmed mostly with a hand-held camera that never hesitates to get right up the actors' noses, literally. With this one, you can almost smell the characters.
Madame Sata has already won several awards at film festivals. The film is in Portuguese with English subtitles.
(This film is rated 18-A)
More Movie Reviews
