Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)

What makes it different from others?

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

This priceless old film contains brilliant performances, not only by the great Sonia Braga, and the Moliere Award-winning Jose Wilker, but also by the entire supporting cast.The gossipy neighbors, the uptight mother, the casino and whorehouse friends of Vadinho, are all played to absolute perfection! Mauro Mendonça deserves honorable mention for his spot-on portrayal of the bassoon-playing dork of a second husband. I've seen this at least a dozen times, and I still can't stop laughing.Few films create a masterpiece out of a masterpiece of fiction, which both this film and Jorge Amado's novel certainly are. Here, you get not only erotic art, but a hilarious and splendid comedy of manners, in a fantastic period setting, perfect in every detail. If that were not enough, the soundtrack of Francis Hime and Chico Buarque de Hollanda, with the theme song, "O que sera sera," sung by the great Simone, serves you an auditory feast worthy of Dona Flor's immortal moqueca.A treasure to savor, over and over and over again!

When I first saw it, it was one of the most sexiest movies I had ever seen. Sonia Braga back in the late seventies was a beautiful woman and now as a 57 year old she still has that look. After seeing the movie I wanted to see more of Brazil, so much I went to Rio. I was not disappointed. From very rich ex-patriot Germans to super poor mixed race Brazilians, it was an eye opener. Brazilian women were so sexy in dress and manner but don't let the eye candy fool you. There character was top rate. As one Brazilian woman put it, "We dress like this because we celebrate life and sex, but to get these pants off a wedding ring is the key."

One of Bruno Barreto's earliest works, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands is a comical story about human desires and the need for balance. This movie is for everyone who ever wanted to mix and match the qualities of failed lovers into the perfect partner. You will laugh and see yourself in Dona Flor's struggles.

Sonia Braga's beauty and charm is sure to captivate most male viewers of this film, but even they will probably notice that the whole thing DRAGS along at a slow-as-molasses pacing and feels incomplete, as if the filmmakers couldn't come up with a truly satisfying ending. The basic story is clever, but I'm afraid this film too often borders on boredom. (**1/2)