Copacabana Palace

Named after the famous hotel in Brazil, "Copacabana Palace" is a lighthearted Italian romp on the land of sand, sun, beaches, music and voluptuous women. Amidst a tale of infidelity, cuckoldry and corporate crookedness are the backdrops of festivals, seaside panoramas, attractive and sexy babes and topnotch music. I saw this to see the Holy Trinity of Bossa Nova in their only film together- Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and Luiz Bonfá are all game as they try on their acting chops while performing their one of a kind music. In fact the biggest weaknesses of the flick are the lack of more screen time for the great men and their music. Celebrating in vivid color the classy and sophisticated pre - Kennedy assassination / British Invasion era this is a snapshot of the 1960s in all its sparkling glamor. Viva o Brasil!

A French/Italian/Brazilian co-production, THE GIRL GAME (as my English-dubbed, letterboxed VHS copy is titled) would be an average Euro lighthearted romance-caper film were it not for the Brazilian element in the mix--great locations, great music by Jobim and Bonfa, many Brazilian elements throughout the films, and if I'm not mistaken even cameos from Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luis Bonfa, and Joao Gilberto (one of the characters pretends to be talking to Jobim on the phone and makes plans to meet him and his "friends" Luis and Joao--later in the film we see the girls with guys serenading them who look and sound like the real musicians, but I thought it was just actors shown in medium shots pretending to be them, until I saw the three actually listed in the cast list!!!). We even get two songs sung by Norma Bengell! While the film itself is a pleasant time-killer, the bossa nova content makes it a fascinating document--an artifact from that brief period in the early 1960s when the romanticized Brazil of song and legend was THE place to be, the place to fantasize being. Anyone with any interest in this period should try to find a copy. Fans of dubbed Euro 60s co-productions will also like the film, but what makes it special is the bossa nova content