An affectionate remembrance of the eponymous '70s Brazilian dance troupe, Raphael Alvarez and Tatiana Issa's documentary assembles a generous selection of archival footage and scads of talking-heads testimony to delineate the group's achievements. Essentially a queer-cabaret-cum-performance-art-spectacle, the Croquettes went from local phenomenon to international sensation, opening up sexual mores in then-repressive Brazil and wowing Paris before their AIDS-fueled downfall. Giving individual members of the outfit their due while focusing on different aspects of their art, the film presents a wide-ranging picture of a unique cultural phenomenon, even if subjects like Liza Minnelli too often fall into semiarticulate expressions of hagiographical awe.
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