Transcript [Lecture 15] Cinema Novo for wiki 2012
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
Figure 1: Percentage of the population in urban areas, major regions 1950
–
2050
Source: United Nations Population Division, 2010 The next section of this paper begins with an overview of the historical trends in urban growth in Brazil. This will be broken up into four periods, each covered by a specific sub-section. The first sub-section looks at certain key settlement patterns under Portuguese colonization that have persisted to th is day; the second centres on the origins of rapid urban growth in the last decades of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century; and the third focuses on the Brazilian urban explosion between 1930 and 1980. The fourth will examine the trends in urban growth during the ‘late transitional period’ from 1980 to the present day. These synopses of urban growth trends and their determinants are follo wed by a section analysing the particular process and traj ectory of urbanization in Brazil in terms of their significance for present-day social and environmental conditions. The particular focus here is on the origins and consequences of housing problems that led to the persistent issue of slums, and what could have been done to avoid them. The next section then discusses the determinants of ec onomic ‘success’ in specific cities, and the relevance of different policy options in that respect. The final section analyses some of the more important approaches to urban policy that have been adopted in the country, including certain recent policies that are generating considerable international interest. Throughout this paper, the primary focus will be on the country level. Brazil is a huge and very diverse country, where the perennially poor northeast of the past provides a stark contrast to the rich-country ambiance of the southeast and particularly its most advanced state, S ão Paulo. A more comprehensive review of Brazil’s urban trajectory would require delving into regional specificities and case analyses, which would transform this document into a book-long affair and make it more difficult t o transmit the basic messages that can be derived from the overall experience nationwid e. References to regional patterns and differences will be kept to a minimum in order to focus on the central thrust of Brazilian urban growth, although both th e city and the state of S ão Paulo inevitably receive more attention due to their predominant role in Brazil’s urban history. The major regions, states and state capitals of Brazil are shown in Figure 2 below. 3
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