Brazilian filmmakers of Ruy Guerra'sgeneration were raised on American musicals (and poor Brazilian imitations); cinema novo, the sixties newwave of which Guerra was in the vanguard, was in part a reaction to this, a resettling of Brazilian cinemain Brazilian terms. After a decade of working in exile, however, Guerra recently marked his homecomingwith a return to his "roots" in the American musical-albeit ironic, and translated through Brecht. ChicoBuarque's musical is a Brazilian Threepenny Opera, set in 1941 among Brazil's bohemians ormalandros-musicians and petty thieves united by their shared marginality to the society at large. His Mackthe Knife is one Max Overseas (Edson Celulari), a mustachioed hood with a passion for things American.Max is drawn away from his sultry prostitute mistress (Elba Ramalho) and toward a seeming ingenue(Claudia Ohana). She is given to swinging on lamposts `la Gene Kelly but has serious get-rich plans toimport American goods-just as Brazilians, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, prepare to welcome American-stylecapitalism. Amid spicy dance numbers and some exhilarating songs (especially from Ramalho, one ofBrazil's most popular singers) lies an allegory of a people who dream of being seduced by the good life, andwake up saddled to it.