Deep in the virgin forest, Macunaima is born, a lazy hero with no character. He is born Black and, in the wild hallucination of the forest, turns white and leaves the backlands. In the strange and hostile city, he faces tumultuous adventures: he falls in love with a guerrilla fighter, loves several women, and faces a millionaire villain in search of a magical stone.
An adaptation of Mario de Andrade's seminal book, Macunaima is a satirical and exuberant portrait of a society still grappling with its culture and racial complexities. Joao Pedro de Andrade aimed to create a politically engaged yet commercially successful film - a rare combination within the movement -, influenced by erotic comedies that were popular in Brazil at the time. With a large budget, color cinematography, and a "free style" (in his own words), the film captures the turbulent late-1960s Brazil, marked by repression, censorship, revolutionary movements, and economic change. While updating the novel to contemporary concerns, it preserves its central discourse, including the modernist concept of "anthropophagy": absorbing foreign influences and transforming them into a distinctly national identity. However, the cannibalism in the film also reflects the individual being devoured by the system, through consumerism and the blind patriotism promoted by the military government.