Sol alegria

While the country is under the yoke of a military junta and corrupt priests preach the apocalypse, a lawless, eccentric family – a kind of Bonnie & Clyde with kids – trek through the Brazilian interior. Their first aim is to deliver a consignment of weapons to a group of militant nuns who have withdrawn to the jungle, living off the income from their cannabis plantation.
The Dadaist approach of poet, theatre and filmmaker Tavinho Teixera, who plays one of the leading roles alongside his daughter Mariah, results in a colourful collage in which political-philosophical reflections, strangulation sex, decadent drinking sprees and an ode to the power of tiger balsam are juxtaposed seamlessly. Background projections, psychedelic visual effects and an eclectic score evoke the experimental film culture of the 1970s, the era with which Sol alegria also shares its basic tone of cheerful nihilism.