Bye Bye Brazil

REVIEW
Diegues' lyrical journey across Brazil is part road movie, part travelogue sprinkled with hints of political message and a touch of magical realism. Wilker stars as Lord Gypsy, the leader of a troupe of traveling performers known as Caravana Rolidei. The film follows this group in a quasi-documentary style on a revelatory trip across the Trans-Amazon highway and beyond. Faria costars as Salome, Queen of the Rumba. Diegeus and his cast and crew actually embarked on a 9,000-mile journey to make the film letting much of the material come to them along the way. The resulting "journal" is not always successful, but is at times mesmerizing and offers a unique look at the rapidly changing face of Brazil.