Brazil à La Strada, this is a tour, more picaresque than picturesque, of the desolate hinterlands with a small troupe of artistes-a magician, Lord Gypsy; his rumba-dancing lover, Salome; and a mute strongman called Swallow. Their accordion-playing protégé (a Jean-Pierre Léaud-like enfant terrible) and his very pregnant wife look to the ragtag troupe as a ticket out of nowhere. But Gypsy and Salome are inexorably drawn to the mysteries of Brazil's vastness: they imagine themselves one step behind the advance of progress into the Amazon, but still find themselves playing to blank-faced Indians who have the spirit on their minds; or playing against disco-TV, the ubiquitous first outpost of civilization. "I can make the dreams of all Brazilians come true," Gypsy proclaims as he creates snow out of coconut: optimism in the face of the relentlessly funky is what makes this film so unique, bridging Cinema Nôvo to "the civilized countries of the world," snow and all.