Cinema Novo

Lecture 15

Snap shot of Brazilian Film Production

• 1978—most successful year ever; 61.8 million spectators; 29.2% of the market; 100 films produced

• 1992—36,000 spectators; 3 films produced• 2002—7.4 million spectators; 30 films

produced

Early Cinema in Brazil

• First screening held in Rio de Janeiro in July 1896 (six months after Lumiere’s Paris screening)

• 1900-1912: Bela Época– Brazilian films dominated the internal market—over

100 films per year• Film in Brazil: always an elite/middle class

attraction (not popular with the working classes)

Brazilian Avant-Garde

• Mário Peixoto’s Limite (1930)– “The Brazilian Experimental film”– Eisenstein referred to it as a “work of genius”

Humberto Mauro, pioneer of Brazilian film

• First film 1925• Made Fiction films in 1920s and 1930s• Made Documentaries for INCE (National

Institute of Educational Cinema) in 1936-1967 (357 documentary films)

• Most important precursor to Cinema Novo• Ganga Bruta (1933)--masterpiece

Before Cinema Novo, 1930s-1950s:Experiments in industrial film production (sound film)

– Cinédia Studios• Chanchada genre (musical comedies)

– Alô, Alô, Carnaval (Adhemar Gonzaga, 1936)» Carmen Miranda

– Atlântida Studio (Rio de Janeiro)—vertically integrated• Chanchada

– Vera Cruz Studio (São Paulo)—”Tropical Hollywood”—modeled on MGM• Established 1949, Bankrupt in 1954• Produced O Cangaceiro (Lima Barreto, 1953)

– won highest award at the Cannes film festival

Carmen Miranda, chanchada star

Brazil, 1950s

• Developmental Nationalism– President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956-1961)• Rapid industrialization:

– b/t 1955-1964—industrial production increased by 80%– Develop national industry with the help of foreign capital and

loans from the IMF• New Capital City: Brasilía

– Built by Oscar Niemeyer (architect) and Lucio Costa (town-planner)

– Building began in 1956; city inaugurated in 1960

Brasilía, Capital of Brazil

Original design of the Pilot Plan by Lucio Costa, 1957

Cinema Novo

• Three phases– Phase 1: 1960-1964– Phase 2: 1964-1968– Phase 3: 1968-1972

• Directors: Glauber Rocha, Ruy Guerra, Carlos Diegues, Nelson Pereira dos Santos

Cinema Novo, Phase 1: 1960-1964• Mode of Production

– Independent and artisanal • i.e. total rejection of the Vera Cruz and chanchada models

– Low budget (ex: $25,000 to make _Vidas Secas_)• Mode of representation– Outdoor, location shooting– Nonprofessional actors– Themes: Everyday life themes; Progressive, socially critical of lack of

institutions– Cinematography: overexposure; high contrast; handheld camera work;

mobile; long takes; no filters or bounce boards– Sound: ambient; no score– Editing: Continuity– Mise-en-scene: realist

Vidas Secas, opening sequence (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1963)

Vidas Secas, ox cart (diegetic sound) (Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1963)

Vidas Secas, ending(Nelson Pereira dos Santos, 1963)