Madame Sata

"Madame Sata" opens with the battered, bruised and swollen image of its hero, Joao Francisco (Lazaro Ramos), defiantly staring at the camera as some offscreen authority reads his list of crimes to him. It's as if writer/director Karim Ainouz is daring us not to like him; all we know are negative traits.

It's a tantalizing opening, and it almost makes up for that other thing that appears at the opening: "Based on a true story."

Any time I see that, it's a safe bet that I'm in for the typical biopic treatment, when filmmakers try to cram as much of a person's life into two hours as possible and end up with a Cliff's Notes version, all details and no life. "Madame Sata" skips over so much that it's even difficult to tell what year it is or how much time passes between scenes.

Francisco lives in Rio de Janeiro in the neighborhood of Lapa in the 1930s. He works as an assistant to a cabaret singer, worshipping her and memorizing her act. But he's also a temperamental fellow who likes to get into fights and he loses his job. He spends a lot of time going to clubs, picking up men and arguing with his prostitute wife (Marcelia Cartaxo), his baby daughter and another gay man (Flavio Bauraqui). He even goes to jail for a period.

Finally after about 90 minutes, Francisco wanders into a cafe and strikes a deal to be allowed to perform there. He becomes "Madame Sata" — a name derived from Cecil B. DeMille's 1930 film "Madame Satan" —and performs a drag cabaret show that apparently grows to great fame.

The movie clears up some of these missing details with text that runs just before the end credits; this information would have been more useful a bit earlier.

Besides crafting this confusing, rushed look at one person's life, Ainouz takes a few more missteps. Making his directorial debut, he opts to shoot most of it in close-up, and the shots invariably go out of focus.

It's not clear what Ainouz was trying to say with these blurry images, but it makes for extremely difficult and frustrating viewing.

"Madame Sata" is not rated but would probably receive an R for violence (beatings and some sexual violence), simulated sex (both gay and straight), male and female nudity, occasional use of strong sexual profanity and frank sexual talk, simulated drug use. Running time: 105 minutes.