XICA Movie Review

A diamond rush in 18th-century Brazil transformed the country's interior into a place of undreamed-of wealth and excess. The legendary black slave Xica da Silva (Zeze Mota) found a way to use another natural formation to achieve riches; her body became the key to capturing the attention of the mining-town's governor, and her status as the unofficial “Empress of Brazil” wasn't far behind. This flamboyant and rollicking fable—part third-world tract and part Vegas act—is filled with music, dancing, and color. It's a lively salute to a true-life heroine, whom director Carlos Diegues (Bye Bye Brazil) teasingly refers to as “our Joan of Arc, sort of.” (You're guaranteed to go out humming the theme song: “Xica da, Xica da, Xica da, Xica da Silva.”)

NEXT STOP … Ganga Zumba, Quilombo, Bye Bye Brazil

1976 109m/C BR Zeze Motta, Walmor Chagas, Altair Lima, Jose Wilker, Marcus Vinicius, Elke Maravilha; D: Carlos Diegues; W: Joao Felicio. VHS NYF, BTV, FCT