Review of Moro No Brasil

To most of us Brazilian music is "The girl from Ipanema" and some carnival samba. This wonderful documentary manages to take us through some of its unsung origins, tracing it back to the Indian and African roots so predominant in the country's Northeast. Music is the soul of Brazil, its unifying element and the only true element that connects the country's melting pot of races. Mika Kaurismäki decides to take us through the origin of the music in Brasil and deliberately chooses to leave out the more famous Bossa Nova, born in the late fifties among the country's intellectuals. "Moro no Brasil" takes us through Forrò, Frevo, Samba through the eyes of the real Brazilian people that play the music and live with it their daily lives. We enter the favelas and dance with them. The filming is so sensitive and the camera shots so good one cannot help but feel the strong emotion the Brazilians themselves feel for their music. The social aspect of the music is also analyzed and shown to play a very important role in Brazilian less favoured society. This is a great masterpiece of a documentary. Lets hope Mika Kaurismäki will follow it up with a second part on Bossa Nova.