PINDORAMA - THE TRUE STORY OF THE SEVEN DWARVES

Directed By: Roberto Berliner, Lula Queiroga, Leo Crivellare

Review By: Kim Jindra

I wanted to be charmed by PINDORAMA - THE TRUE STORY OF THE SEVEN DWARVES, but I wasn't.  But, I will admit PINDORAMA is an interesting look at an unusual family.

First, they are a circus family.  That means traveling together, working together, and living together 24/7.  But the unique thing about the family is out of 12 children, seven of them are dwarves.  The matriarch of the clan married 2'2" Pindorama at 14.  She is full size but she fell head over heels for Brazil's most famous clown.  The circus came to her town, it was love at first sight and over the objections of her family she never looked back.

The family circus was the father's dream.  He was tired of working for others.  His children carried out his vision after he died.  Brothers Gilberto and Charles split duties running the business.  But the family freely admits it has a soft spot for Charles.  Everyone, full sized and pint sized, is part of the show. 

This is not a Ringling Brothers type circus although there are trapeze artists, clowns and knife throwers.  It is on a much smaller scale.   The family travels throughout the Brazilian countryside bringing joy to rural audiences.

The film opens with the dwarf brothers barking orders at full sized men as the circus tent is being raised.  There is good natured grumbling but the dwarves laugh it off by admitting they can't do heavy lifting.

None of the dwarves are bothered by their size. They seem to revel in the curious stares and amused looks.  They believe it is a form of admiration.  There are five brothers and two sisters.  The oldest sister Cleide ran the show for awhile.  But she was happy to relinquish the business side to her brothers.  In fact all the women in the family are subservient to the men.  The women say it is right for the men to be in charge.

The most interesting thing about the dwarves is their spouses are full size.   Each dwarf knocked some unsuspecting circus visitor off his/her feet and convinced them to run away with the circus.   As they freely admit, 'dwarves don't desire other dwarves'.   And now there is another generation coming up.  The young ones education, which consists of learning to read and write, is supervised by Cleide.  Once mastered the children go on to juggling, or clowning etc...so they can work in the show.

The dwarves definitely attract attention whether it is driving a car, shopping in the market or enjoying a day at the beach.  And their full sized siblings seem content to stay in the background unless they are called on to defend their smaller family members.  And of course, they are part of the show, working as acrobats, aerial artists, trained roustabouts and straight men for the clowns.

I do not think this film would have been made about a full sized circus family.

In fact, I am not sure people in the U.S. would even go to see a circus without the lions and the elephants, but then again maybe the attraction of the seven dwarves would be enough.  It sure works in Brazil.