Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business

Very good biographical documentary on Portuguese-born Brazilian Broadway and Hollywood star Carmem Miranda. From her childhood in Rio de Janeiro to the beginning of her artistic career, from her first music trips do Buenos Aires to her success in the United States, from her partners and friends in Rio and New York to her failed marriage and death, from the criticisms against her to her worldwide lagacy, the informative and well paced film addresses every important single issue about the great bombshell superstar and the Maria do Carmo (Carmem Miranda's true name) behind her.

Frankly, I found it quite difficult to sit through this "documentary." Re-enactments and psychobabble mar what could have been a fascinating exploration of a film icon.

The genre is one of my favorites, and I have enjoyed attending the IFP Festival in NYC, where documentarians are highlighted.

One hopes to come away from a celluloid, biography viewing experience with a better understanding of the subject. This particular production seemed to meander, and fail to provide an insight into the life of the actress. The Biography Channel could have done a more in-depth analysis, which certainly doesn't say much for this production.

As a lover of Brazilian culture, I was rather disappointed by the film, which turns out to be a rather conventional 90's showbiz bio.

Yes, Carmen was exploited and broken behind that headdress. The film did a good job of bringing out the pathos - but

that's hardly a surprise.

The problem is, having done that, it didn't go any further in showing us the real woman behind the mask. The film projects her as nothing but a helpless victim of Hollywood, when her early life clearly indicated a strong and wily character. She must have put up a few fights - both internally and out there - and _this_ is the fascinating stuff. Remember that she was financially independent and emotionally not alone. Although in exile, she was always surrounded by family and, quite often, other Brazilian expatriate friends (among them one of the fathers of Bossa Nova, Vinicius --). She had choices. She didn't have to end that way and yet she did -- chose to marry an American brute and chose to leave Brazil again, right out of convalescence. This is the true mystery, and this film brings us no closer.

In the other direction, the film also failed to place Carmen in context of the development of Brazilian music. Was she a true artist, or merely a star - co-opting music of the poor for the consumption of a more respectable audience? And what is her true legacy as Brazil's "cultural ambassador"? Brazil may have rejected her, but it has never forgotten or ignored her (the funeral scene proved that). Yet once again we

had no idea what Carmen means to an average Brazilian today.

Watching this film, I kept getting reminded of Edith Piaf. Like her, Carmen's life has enough paradoxes for two or three movies. Regrettably, we are given less than one.

For starters, I learned much about the Queen of Kiche; also, I learned that she was worthy of a documentary, certainly. Her beginnings in Brazil, her birth in Portugual, this section of the documentary was well done. Clearly this was the strongest section, including how she linked her fame to superfame in the U.S.. She was a Brazilian superstar long before she went to the U.S. Once in the U.S., up she went within weeks, into Celebrity Heaven. But from there, the documentary does become somewhat hazy, creating more questions than it answers. I do agree with one ImDB reviewer: They, like me, wonder how much of a struggle >did< she make, i.e. to break away from the "living cartoon" caricature she'd become by 1944/45? I mean, that was an "out there" demeaning image, and extremely limiting for a singer/dancer. This issue does not come into focus. I found the wistful, spacy narration of the director/producer somewhat pretentious, but at times it worked for me. Yes, I too agree (with another reviewer) that her marriage to the meatheaded producer just rather popped up and hung there. But, I got the impression, that time limitations lock-stepped them into going light on that. She was a serious, family oriented Roman Catholic, and that rules out divorce--and that point is covered. When Ms. Miranda died (1955) divorce wasn't even allowed in major Catholic countries! Dumping Meathead just would have been, to her and family, not an option. Finally, she made choices--she had choices. Some of these are not explained well enough. But, all in all, I don't consider this a weak effort, but a good one. Worth viewing.

A rather one-dimensional treatment of a complex personality, this documentary by Ms. Solberg comes up short. You get the feeling, after watching this film, that you have simply witnessed a Hollywood biography. It is a very clean, and at times vacuous film that doesn't develop Carmen Miranda as much of a character beyond her exploitation in America. It is unfortunate because the film does have some potential. Solberg's rhetorical device and creative narration seem well-suited to a sensitive portrayal of Miranda. Instead, the film dissolves into little more than a formulaic celebrity biography.