Directed by Bruno Barreto
Written by Bruno Barreto, Eduardo Coutinho, and Leopoldo Serran, based on the novel by Jorge Amado
Starring Sonia Braga, José Wilker, and Mauro Mendonça
Rated R
Runtime 1 hour 58 minutes 
On Blu-Ray July 26 from Film Movement

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Bruno Barreto’s enjoyable 1976 film version of Brazilian writer Jorge Amado’s 1966 novel, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, has just been issued on Bu-ray in a 4K restoration. The film, which launched star Sonia Braga as the “Brazilian bombshell,” has been remade several times, most notably in 1982 as the poor (and PG-rated) Kiss Me Goodbye, starring Sally Field, Jeff Bridges, and the late James Caan, and, in 2009, as the gay Peruvian romance, Undertow. (The film has also been remade in Brazil as a feature in 2017, and it was the basis for a 2019 Mexican telenovela, among other iterations.)

The story, sent in 1943 Bahia, opens on a Sunday morning during Carnival, where folks are dancing and carrying on in the street until one of the men, Valdinho (José Wilker), suddenly dies. His wife, Dona Flor (Braga) is in shock and bereft. At the funeral, folks pay their respects, but they also gossip. Valdinho was an inveterate gambler, and a drunk, who treated Dona Flor badly, even beating her up. He was also a womanizer who spent many a night at the brothel. 

All of that is true; the first half of the film flashes back to Dona Flor and Valdinho’s relationship, and how they made love on their wedding night—before he went off to the casino to gamble. Dona Flor seen as long suffering. Teaching a cooking class, Valdinho sneaks in and grinds against one student while pinching another without much notice. She begs him to stay home with her, but he always leaves for an “important meeting.” Valdinho is not just irresponsible towards his wife, he double talks his way out of a debt and borrows money from the local priest to fund his gambling efforts. 

But the film indicates that the reason Dona Flor stays with him—she is encouraged to leave after her husband has not returned in several days—is because Valdinho is such a great lover. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands is most known for its “steamy” sex scenes, and while there are many passionate moments, the film does feel a bit quaint nearly 50 years later. 

At the midpoint of the story, Dona Flor ends her period of mourning and meets Teodoro (Mauro Mendonça), a pharmacist who courts her. He drinks only on special occasions, is fiscally responsible (and wants her to keep teaching). He even gives her a proper honeymoon. He is just not very good in bed. It’s a conundrum for Dona Flor, who admits being “happy,” but also seems to miss Valdinho. Thanks to some witchcraft, she summons her late husband’s spirit, and he returns—naked—to satisfy her carnal desires.

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands spends it last act developing the love triangle and the last half hour having it play out, which can frustrate viewers waiting for the payoff. But it comes as only Dona Flor can see Valdinho’s ghost, and while she is reluctant to give in to him, the sexual tension between them sizzles. Watching him lie in bed in a hat, sport jacket, and shirt, but no pants, edging closer to her and touching her—despite her protestations—is both sexy and comic. Viewers want Valdinho and Dona Flor to be together, especially since this “arrangement” lets her live a respectable life and still be sexually satiated without betraying her husband. Since Valdinho is a magical realist creation, he lacks Valdinho’s bad qualities. And despite the numerous slights, both verbally and visually, towards women, there is a feminist bent here in that Dona Flor gets some agency.  

Braga’s star-making performance is the main reason to see the film (and for its popularity). She is duly contrite during the first half, but as Dona Flor grows, she becomes more beautiful, and Braga’s transformation is gratifying. She is able to get what she wants because she had dignity and respect. The story asks her to choose between her head and her body, and she searches her heart to get both.

As Valdinho, the handsome Wilker has a lovable nature despite being such a cad. There is some pleasure watching him ogle a prostitute or pop up naked in Dona Flor’s house. He also creates some amusing mischief in the casino when he “returns.” Wilker’s broad performance keeps the film lively.

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands remains a classic of Brazilian cinema. Barreto reunited with Braga for another Amado adaptation, Gabriela, in 1983. With any luck, that film will be restored and reissued on Blu-ray next.