O Escorpião Escarlate

In Brazil, in the 50s, `O Anjo' (`The Angel') was a very popular series presented in Radio Nacional. When I was a kid, I remember my parents and their friends making comments about the importance of this character for their pre-TV generation. This movie is a great homage to Brazilian pop culture of the 50s. The simple story is a great joke, showing exactly how the society got involved with this character, waiting anxiously for the next chapter of the story. The director Ivan Cardoso presented a funny story, very well produced, using a cast of important and prominent Brazilian actors, actresses and artists. However, for a foreigner not living in Brazil, the plot maybe sounds ridiculous. Even for young Brazilians, probably they will not understand the great joke this movie is. For example, in 1986, Roberta Close, the starlet of the strip tease, had the spots on her because indeed she was a transexual. Presently, she is married and lives in Europe, after a successful sex-change surgery. Isadora Ribeiro was one of the dancers of the introduction of a famous Brazilian TV show (`Fantástico') and `O Escorpião Escarlate' was her first movie. Monique Evans was one of the most beautiful Brazilian top models. This was the last movie of the showman and singer Ivon Cury. The choreography of the fights recalls those in Adam West's Batman. I have just noted that IMDB does not have the name of the characters, only the cast. Maybe this weekend, I will take note of most of their names (at least the most important ones) and submit them to IMDB. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `O Escorpião Escarlate' (`The Crimson Scorpion')

This one starts in great style. You might think you have the wrong reel or tape. Then you get to the crime story, and it is a joke played by the actors as if it was supposed to be serious. The end is a homage to a classic terror movie I won't name, in order not to spoil the fun. Don't expect to see every single detail, but there's a scene with a famous Brazilian transexual doing a strip tease that I'm sure made lots of people see this one at the movies. I guess a drive-in cinema would be ideal for showing this one. Get your popcorn!

When the whole city is obsessively listening to a radio adventure serial about the escapades of a handsome millionaire crime-fighter named The Angel and his arch-enemy Scarlet Scorpion, only a fashion designer Glória (Andrea Beltrão) seems to notice how life imitates art: there has been a crime spree in the area but the police won't take Glória's observations about the similarities to the Angel series seriously. Luckily Álvaro, the writer of the serial and the actor who plays The Angel (Herson Capri), takes a liking to her. The main plot is presented in colour and the adventures of the Angel are visualized in exciting black & white sequences which emulate the style and atmosphere of old TV shows, such as Batman and Superman, complete with crazy supervillains, numerous fistfights and a recognizable theme song.

True to his trashy style, director Cardoso makes a lot of references to pop culture and exploits female nudity. Sure, this is fun for a while, but since I feel that I'm missing out a lot of the nods to Brazilian celebrities and programs, it gets a little alienating at times. Due to some pacing issues, the switches between real life and the Angel sequences are not always as smooth as they could have been. When they start, the Angel scenes are always funny though. Actually, I wouldn't have minded if the whole movie had been about The Angel, but I guess the point was to examine the relationship of fiction and real life.

In the end, The Scarlet Scorpion is an interesting curiosity but it's probably best suited to those familiar with Brazilian culture. Even so, there are many things for anybody to enjoy, such as the music, the fights and the villains, so anyone interested in obscure cult comedies can check this one out.