7/10
Brazil was in pretty big upheaval in the late sixties/early seventies, and it spawned a lot of great, innovative music. I don't know much about the films of the era but if this one is any indication, they were pretty wild too.
The Monsters of Babaloo came out in '71 as part of Brazil's "marginal cinema" B-movies of the time. Shot in black and white, it tells the story (loosely) of Dr. Badu, ruler of an island called Babaloo and manufacturer of bananajelly, sardines, and candles. He's a womanizer and his wife is a vain, shopoholic adultress. He abuses his handicapped son and his Russian-blooded daughter is whacked out and constantly escaping to the U.S. to "study". They live with a couple of servants, similarly abused. The film follows the family's tribulations in episodic format with no real narrative - Badu is revealed to be going broke at one point and natives threaten an insurrection against his island and stately manor, but these seemingly major plot strands go nowhere. A common slogan at the time in Brazil was "seja marginal, seja heroi" (be marginal, be a hero) and indeed, the marginal are the ones who triumph here too. Unsurprisingly, the movie was banned upon release.
Stylistically it's pretty out there. The soundtrack in particular (mostly jazz but some American doo-wop) seems to play at a complete dischord from the images on the screen - starting late, ending abruptly, drowning out dialogue, etc. Visually and in its approach it's like a strange, Brazilian mix of Werner Herzog's Even Dwarves Started Small, John Waters, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and maybe even John Cassavetes. So yeah, it's out there.
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