Madame Satâ

João Francisco dos Santos was a cook, nanny, transvestite, con-artist, kickboxer and adoptive father to the kids of his various low-life friends in the Rio slums; he also attained some success as a cabaret drag-queen. Writer/director Aïnouz flashes back from his incarceration for murder to focus on his faltering rise to some kind of stardom. It's a small film, effectively exploring a Genet-like netherworld of gay criminality, while taking the time to let us get to know 'Satâ', so that his charm and perverse but distinctive sense of honour finally win us over too. Walter Carvalho's burnished camerawork oozes atmosphere, but in the end it's surely Lázaro Ramos' dazzling lead turn that carries the day.