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Carmen Miranda: Banana's is my Business
Carmen Miranda
Released 1995
Bombshells.Com
Rating
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Carmen
Miranda: Banana's is my Business
This
documentary about Carmen Miranda's life, directed by Helena
Solberg was rather disappointing for me. I had read mixed
reviews between Amazon and IMDB and figured I'd pick up the
film for my own analysis. I felt let down and in some ways,
as if Carmen had been strangely violated by this film. To
her credit, the direct, Helena Solberg sincerely loves Carmen
and has fostered a lifelong obsession with "The Brazillian
Bombshell," however, there were instances in the film,
where I felt like I was learning more bout Ms. Solberg's obsession,
than Carmen's life. The film presents itself as an unveiling
of "a woman behind a mask," but I never felt like
I got to experience the true essence of Carmen through this
documentary. Carmen's life was extraordinary. Born in Portugal,
her family moved to Brazil when she was young and she struggled
to overcome poverty as a young girl. Working as a hat-maker
in Brazil, she moonlighted and became one of the most respected
Samba singers of the 1930s and was pursued by Hollywood and
Broadway. She became one of the higest paid women in America
throughout the 1940s with her film and stage appearances,
struggled with racism within the Hollywood sysem, and she
died far earlier than anyone would have expected. In essence,
not unlike many bombshells, she burned hot and bright and
burned out too quickly. But Carmen was more than just a "personality"
and this film barely explores her impact on the Samba in the
1930s or her presence as a successful Latino actress in Hollywood
in the 1940s. Yes, she was rejected by many Brazillians as
being "too Americanized" however, as evidenced by
her funeral in Brazil, ultimately adored by her fellow citizens.
She had a strong support system from her family and Brazillian
friends and put her career before marriage and when she finally
did marry, it was to an American director, a marriage which
was doomed by his abusive nature.
While
watching this film, I struggled with the director's personal
viewpoint (obsession) and the gnawing, exploitive quality
that an E! True Hollywood Story would present. There were
clips I enjoyed seeing and facts about Carmen that I found
out, but I felt hollow after watching this film. Truly for
the Carmen Miranda fan only, I recommend trying to find a
copy of the book Brazilian
Bombshell: The Biography of Carmen Miranda written by
Martha Gil-Montero for an in-depth analysis of the life and
times of Carmen Miranda.
Original
review, written by Dawn Marie, Bombshells.Com, 2002 ©
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