Dona Flor and a birthday card

Dear Sarah/Dear Nikki - Y2/Day 18 of our daily drawing exchange

Hi Sarah -

Well, if I thought the readings were odd for my magic realism in narratives class, this week’s film (from 1976 - Dona Flor and her Two Husbands) was definitely strange. I doubt it could have been made today - too many no-no’s for our delicate sensibilities.

In the end, though, Ms Flor wound up having her cake and eating it too, so there’s a strangely empowering message embedded in the tale. So what if one of the husbands is dead?

What was perhaps even stranger than the storyline was the odd pacing. The film is roughly divided into thirds, with the first two-thirds moving along pretty slowly - except for the opening scene in which the lewd first husband collapses mid-Carnivale parade. Anyway, there follows a long series of flashbacks after which we return to the present and husband number two (cleverly paced to make sure we all understand just how boring he is). The conclusion is pure zany, though I won’t go into details in case anyone wants to watch.

There’s the trailer. We watched through a link provided by SFU, so I’m not sure if it’s widely available online… maybe through a public library streaming service?

That’s all for now - looking forward to tomorrow evening’s class discussion to see what the others thought.

Cheers,
Nikki

Hi Nikki,

I’ve heard of that movie but can’t say I have any desire to search it out. I do appreciate the yummy mid-seventies vibe of the trailer image. His butt covered by a thoughtfully place frond, her butt a barely disguised peach. Poor old boring dude in the blue suit. How can he ever compete with naked blond guy?

Here’s the birthday card I made yesterday.

XO S