short takes (2)

According to Brazilian director Carlos Diegues, with whom I spoke recently, there are "several films" bouncing around inside his new feature, Bye bye Brazil. One of these is a sex comedy with explicit scenes that are more pointless than erotic. But Diegues also has a lot to say about the "cultural imperialism" that has, he says, flooded Brazil with irrelevant TV shows and mindless entertainments -- dreamed up by the big cities but eagerly consumed by rural folks. And he has a heady vision of the future that is springing up so fast that the "old" Brazil hasn't even had time to fade away yet. Diegues is a fascinating thinker with a lot of ideas. One hopes his next films will continue to explore his stated concern with the integrity and value of every individualistic enclave of Brazilian life.