johnstamp

You get a bad feeling when the credits begin and the quality of the film is as poor as this one is; very dark and grainy. However, the credits prove to be the highlight of this stinker. The story is poorly written with a very weak plot. The acting itself isn't too bad but the actors have nothing to work with. In essence, the story involves a harried but brilliant architect who has won a contract for "Building 11" in the new capital of Brasilia. He is surrounded by a neglected and unfaithful wife, a female assistant who is after him, a drunken, lecherous colleague who fancies himself a ladies man, a pathetic mother-in-law and her gigolo, and a couple of enigmatic household employees. What plot there is involves our hero trying to get his building done on time, keeping track of his wife, and falling in love with his comely assistant. Dramatic developments and how they are dealt with round out the movie. The most remarkable feature of this film is a sequence of two undercover operatives or vigilantes stalking a Brazilian revolutionary in the jungle. The only possible connection this boring and poorly acted sequence has with the rest of the movie is the mention that this bad guy is upset because Brazil is spending millions to build a new city while people around it are starving. It is a bizarre and totally disconnected intrusion into the movie. The only redeeming feature of this disaster is the on location shots of the then under-construction city of Brasilia and of some location shots in Rio. These provide a nice time capsule of the new capital and the old in the early 60s. Maybe the best way to deal with the misfortune of having this DVD is to turn off the sound and just watch the 1960s Brazilian landscape.