Marriage is a sacred institution between two people and also sometimes a nude ghost. That’s the premise of Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, this week’s Indie Memphis Movie Club selection.
Based on a bestselling novel by Jorge Amado, the 1976 film by director Bruno Barreto set a box office record in Brazil that held for 35 years. Sonia Braga (who later went on to star in Kiss Of The Spider Woman and the other current Indie Memphis Movie Club selection, Bacurau) plays Dona, whose rakish husband Vadinho (Jose Wilker) dies in the film’s opening scenes. Their relationship was tumultuous and unstable, but sexually satisfying. Looking for more stability, she finds love with Teodoro (Mauro Mendonça), He’s a good husband, but boring in bed. Then, Vadinho’s thirsty ghost returns to haunt his wife, and Dora must find an equilibrium between the two marital extremes.
Tonight at 8 p.m., Indie Memphis artistic director Miram Bale and film writer Monica Castillo will host an online discussion of the film’s history, impact, and meaning in our present moment. Go to the Indie Memphis website for more details, and check out the trailer.
Supernatural Polygamy! Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands On This Week’s Indie Memphis Movie Club