Cinema of Brazil
Cinema of Brazil | |
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No. of screens | 8,005 (2019)[1] |
• Per capita | 1.6 per 100,000 (2015)[1] |
Main distributors | Universal (20.8%) Disney (17.3%)[2] |
Produced feature films (2015)[3] | |
Total | 129 |
Fictional | 79 (61.2%) |
Animated | 26 (10.0%) |
Documentary | 50 (38.8%) |
Number of admissions (2015)[4] | |
Total | 172,943,242 |
National films | 22,485,736 (13%) |
Gross box office (2015)[4] | |
Total | R$2.35 billion |
National films | R$278 million (11.8%) |
Cinema of Brazil |
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List of Brazilian films |
Brazilian Animation |
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Culture of Brazil |
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Brazilian cinema was introduced early in the 20th century but took some time to consolidate itself as a popular form of entertainment. The film industry of Brazil has gone through periods of ups and downs, a reflection of its dependency on state funding and incentives.
History
Early days
A couple of months after the
From the early beginning of the 20th century, as early as 1900 to the year of 1912, Brazilian films had made a major impact on the internal market, which saw an annual production of over one-hundred films.[5] In 1908, during a period coined Brazil's "golden age" of Cinema, the country saw its first widely popular film, titled Os Estranguladores, by Antonio Leal.[5]
An ad of a May 1987 issue of Gazeta de Petrópolis, as shown in 1995 by Jorge Vittorio Capellaro and Paulo Roberto Ferreira, was introduced as the new "birth certificate" of Brazilian cinema, as three short films were advertised: Chegada do Trem em Petrópolis, Bailado de Crenças no Colégio de Andarahy and Ponto Terminal da Linha dos Bondes de Botafogo, Vendo-se os Passageiros Subir e Descer.
During this belle epoque of Brazilian cinema, when black and white silent films were less costly to produce, most work resulted from the effort of passionate individuals willing to take on the task themselves rather than commercial enterprises. Neither is given much attention by the state, with legislation for the sector being practically non-existent. Film theaters only become larger in number in Rio and São Paulo late in the following decade, as power supply becomes more reliable.
Foreign films as well as short films documenting local events were most common. Some of the first fictional work filmed in the country were the so-called "posed" films, reconstructions of crimes that had recently made the press headlines. The first success of this genre is António Leal and Francisco Marzullo's Os Estranguladores (1908). "Sung" films were also popular. The actors would hide behind the screen and dub themselves singing during projection. During the 1920s film production flourished throughout several regions of the country: Recife, Campinas, Cataguases, Juiz de Fora and Guaranésia.
Also in the early 20th century of Brazilian cinema, there was a major lack of Black presence in films that were being made. Brazilian and American films are common in this aspect, as both countries had endured similar types of
Hollywood films were also extremely popular during this time, accounting for as much as 85 percent of film material being exhibited on Brazilian screens in 1928. That year, an estimated 16,464,000 linear feet of film was exported to Brazil, making it Hollywood's third largest foreign market. European films, mostly from Germany and France, were also exhibited with relative frequency.[8] Fan magazines like Cinearte and A Scena Muda were published during this time, featuring both domestic and Hollywood films and stars.
1930s and 1940s
Atlântida
During the 1940s and 1950s, films produced by the Atlântida Cinematográfica peaked and attracted large audiences by continuing with chanchadas. Among the actors that became strongly associated with Atlântida who had previously worked in Cinédia films are Oscarito, a comedian somewhat reminiscent of a Harpo Marx and commonly cast as lead, and Grande Otelo, who usually had a smaller supporting role and is often Oscarito's sidekick.
The two of the actors became widely popular throughout Brazil as an amazing comical duo. Otelo, would see much of the humor falling on him at the time due to his Afro-Brazilian characteristics, while Oscarito became the comical foil in the film, a more pale-toned man with like characteristics.
The two helped to display the diversity in Brazilian cinema to reflect on the diversity of Brazil itself.[9] José Lewgoy was commonly cast as a villain while Zézé Macedo often took on the role of the undesired, nagging wife.
The films of this period have often been brushed aside as being overly commercial and americanized, though by the seventies a certain amount of revisionism sought to restore its legitimacy. Despite being overlooked by intellectual elites, these films attracted large audiences as none of the Cinema Novo films would achieve.
Today, the
Vera Cruz
The Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz was a production company founded in the state of São Paulo during the forties and most notable for its output during the following decade. It is in this period that Lima Barreto's classic O Cangaceiro was produced. The movement was named after the large production studio, inspired by Hollywood scale.
However, despite O Cangaceiro, which was clearly inspired by western genre, the essence of these films followed the Italian cinema's style, popular between São Paulo's cultural elite in that time. Vera Cruz films were highly commercialized, which led some directors to begin experimenting with independent cinema. This movement away from commercialized Vera Cruz style films came to be called Cinema Novo, or New Cinema. Vera Cruz eventually bankrupted and closed.
Cinema Novo
Rocha often spoke of his films as being a departure from what he considered to be the colonizer's view, to whom poverty was an exotic and distant reality, as well as the colonized who regarded their third world status as shameful. He sought to portray misery, hunger and the violence they generate and thus suggest the need for a revolution.
Other key directors of the movement include
B Films
A "marginal cinema" emerges associated with the
Associated with the genre is also the pornochanchada, a popular genre in the 1970s. As the name suggests, these were sex comedies, though they did not depict sex explicitly. One key factor as to why these marginal films thrived was that film theaters were obliged to obey quotas for national films. Many owners of such establishments would finance low-budget films, including those of pornographic content. Though the country was under military regime, censorship tended to be more political than cultural. That these films thrived could be perceived by many as a cause of embarrassment, yet they managed to draw in enough audiences so as to stay on the market consistently throughout those years.
1970s and 1980s
Films in this period benefited from state-run agencies, most notably Embrafilme. Its role was perceived as somewhat ambiguous. It was criticized for its dubious selection criteria, bureaucracy and favouritism, and was seen as a form of government control over artistic production. On the other hand, much of the work of this period was produced mainly because of its existence.
A varied and memorable filmography was produced, including
Retomada and contemporary cinema
The early nineties, under the
The comedy
The dark urban film
Still common in Brazilian cinema is a taste for social and political criticism, a trait that reflects its strong Cinema Novo influences. For the common movie goer, there has been a shift in perception towards Brazilian cinema as becoming more audience friendly.
Television shows of the Rede Globo network such as Casseta & Planeta and Os Normais have also received film versions and Globo Filmes, Globo's film production branch, has been behind many of the films that have come out over the years, often as a co-producer. Globo's presence is seen by some critics as being overly commercial, thus compelling certain filmmakers to work outside its system to create independent work. Documentaries have also had a strong place in Brazilian cinema thanks to the work of renowned directors such as Eduardo Coutinho and João Moreira Salles.
In 2007, the film
Domestic market
Since the 1970s, the quantity of
In the early 1990s Brazilian film production suffered as a result of the president
Because these films were made possible thanks to incentive laws introduced in the 1990s and that the number of viewers drawn in from year to year can fluctuate significantly, it is often questioned whether film production has in fact reached a certain amount of stability and whether or not it could in the future succumb to any governmental whims.
Incentive laws allow Brazilian films to receive funding from companies that, by acting as sponsors, are allowed tax deductions. A common criticism is that, through this system, though films are no longer directly controlled by state, they are, nevertheless, subject to the approval of entrepreneurs who are logically cautious as to which content they wish to associate their brands. Even with funding, there are still areas that require some struggle from filmmakers, such as distribution, television participation and DVD release.[12]
See also
- List of Brazilian films
- List of Brazilian film directors
- List of awards and nominations for Brazilian films
- List of Academy Awards nominations for Brazilian films
- Abraccine Top 100 Brazilian films
- Mouth of Garbage Cinema
- Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro
- Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna
References
- ^ a b "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition – Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9780231102674.
- JSTOR 3696991.
- JSTOR 3514194.
- ^ "Hollywood Filmograph (Jun-Aug 1929)". Hollywood Filmograph, inc. 1 June 1929. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017 – via Internet Archive.
- ISBN 9781785332999.
- ^ Success of the film Elite Squad
- ^ Boros Queiroga, Andrea (March 3, 2000). "Cinemark in Latin America". Screen International. p. 15.
- ^ Cinema of Brazil
Sources
- PINAZZA, Natália and BAYMAN, Louis (eds) (2013). 'Directory of World Cinema: Brazil. Bristol: Intellect.
- AUGUSTO, Sérgio. Esse mundo é um pandeiro: chanchada de Getúlio a JK. Companhia das Letras.
- BENAMOU, Catherine, and MARSH, Leslie Louise. "Women Filmmakers and Citizenship in Brazil: From Bossa Nova to the Retomada." In Hispanic and Lusophone Women Filmmakers: Theory, Practice and Differences ed. Parvati Nari and Julián Daniel Gutierrez-Albilla, 54–71. Manchester, England: University of Manchester Press, 2013.
- BURTON, Julianne. Cinema and Social Change in Latin America: Conversations with Filmmakers. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1986.
- DENNISON, Stephanie and SHAW, Lisa. Popular Cinema in Brazil. Manchester, England: University Manchester Press, 2004.
- GOMES, Paulo Emilo Sales. Cinema: trajetória no subdesenvolvimento. Paz e Terra. * 30 Anos de Cinema e Festival: a história do Festival de Brasília do Cinema Brasileiro / coordinated by Berê Bahia. Brasília, Fundação Cultural do Distrito Federal, 1998.
- CALDAS, Ricardo Wahrendorff & MONTORO, Tânia. A Evolução do Cinema no Século XX. Casa das Musas, Brasília, 2006.
- Brazilian Cinema. Ministry of Culture, Brasília 1999 (catalog).
- Glauber Rocha: del hambre al sueño. Obra, política y pensamiento. Malba - Colección Constantini, Artes Gráficas Ronor S.A., April 2004.
- NAGIB, Lúcia. Brazil on Screen: Cinema Nôvo, New Cinema, Utopia. London: IB Tauris, 2007.
- NAGIB, Lúcia, ed. The New Brazilian Cinema. London: I.B. Tauris & Co, 2006.
- PICK, Suzana M. The New Latin American Cinema: A Continental Project. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1993.
- TORRES SAN MARTÍN, Patricia. "Lost and Invisible: A History of Latin American Women Filmmakers." In Hispanic and Lusophone Women Filmmakers: Theory, Practice and Differences ed. Parvati Nari and Julián Daniel Gutierrez-Albilla, 29–41. Manchester, England: University of Manchester Press, 2013.
- WILSON, Pamela, and Stewart, Michelle. Global Indigenous Media: Cultures, Poetics, and Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-8223-2048-7
External links
- Nelson Pereira dos Santos profile by Hudson Moura
- Top 10 movies from Brazil in IMDB.com
- Brazilian Cinema: Film in the Land of Black Orpheus by Glauco Ortolano and Julie A. Porter (English)
- The Best Brazilian Films of All Time (English)
- Cinemabrasileiro.net, web about Brazilian cinema
- Atlântida Cinematográfica website (Portuguese)
- Beyond Cinema Novo by Robert Stam and Randal Johnson (English)
- CINEMA BRASIL - Instituto Cultural Cinema Brasil - Brazilian Movies database (Portuguese, English and French)
- Cinemateca Brasileira (Portuguese)
- Complete list of Brazilian movies (Portuguese)
- On Brazilian Cinema by Michael Korfmann (English)
- Text on Glauber Rocha (English)
- The Rise of the Mandacaru: Brazilian Cinema Renewed by Jorge Didaco (English)
- Vera Cruz website (Portuguese)
- Tupiniquim Japan, the largest Brazilian Film promoter in Japan
- Extensive list of Brazilian Films
- MuseCom cinematographic repository