FILM
-----------------------------------------A panorama of Brazilian film
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Filipe Follador Dos Santos
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Discover the essence of Brazilian film over the next few weeks.
In 1896, with the first film projectors went from Europe to South America, the cinema arrived in Brazil. Two years later, in 1898, the first brazilian shooting would take place in national soil. According to official information, the Italian brothers, Affonso and Paschoal Segreto were responsible for the first film. Affonso shot his voyage from Italy to Brazil.
With time, the techniques were being developed and the themes evolved from daily facts to written stories. The brazilian cinema, was properly developed around 1910, when it started to imitate reality. Several crimes that occurred in the big cities were portrayed in the screens, taking the production to yet another level. Historical dramas and religious themes got some attention as well.
During the 10’s, the Brazilian cinema was purely amateurish and more developed countries as the US and France, had already started to be prototypes of the industries they would soon become. The import of films wouldn’t take much longer.
Brazil continued its production and towards the end of the decade, the first literature adaptations hit the screen. “Os Guaranis” by Brazilian writer José de Alencar, was shot in 1916 by Antônio Leal and “A Viuvinha ”, also from Alencar, was shot in the same year by Luiz de Barros.
The biggest problem was that those films were totally dependant on explanatory interludes to describe the countless complex dialogues and plot turns. With a primitive language, the dramatic structure couldn’t be sustained only through images; therefore the mute cinema was really an obstacle.
Foreign films started taking over, and the Brazilian cinema became marginalized, and that scenario would repeat throughout Brazilian history. Producer and exhibitor was the same person, as they had to produce a film to screen in their own theatres.
The cinema suffered from these factors and film production faded. Those who remained in the business, evolved in language, quality and stylistics towards the 20’s. Some films of that period became classics and got good response from the public. In 1927, sound was finally developed with the movie “The Jazz Singer ”. Cinema, which was now 30 years old, had its biggest evolution. The new possibilities of language become the main discussion among filmmakers. In Brazil, this possibility was frightening the producers. The productions costs were huge, the world was going through an enormous crisis, due to the NY crash of 1929 and the techniques of sound editing were still unattainable, especially because the cinema industry in Brazil was not evolved enough to develop it.
The first attempts were frustrated and happened while there were amazing mute films being produced as “São Paulo - Sinfonia da Metrópole ” (São Paulo, a Metropolitan Symphony, 1929) by Rodolfo Lustig e Adalberto Kemeny, “Barro Humano” (Human Clay, 1929) by Adhemar Gonzaga, “Ganga Bruta” (1933), by Humberto Mauro and “Limite ” (Limit, 1931), by Mário Peixoto.
Brazil’s own movie language was created in this period. Films like “Ganga Bruta”, already talked about Brazil’s main problems. The Brazilian countryside was portrayed outside the foreign aesthetics, with typical elements from that specific area, with no foreign interventions. Not only sound was a problem faced by Brazilian producers, the North American way of producing films was being adapted to the Brazilian reality. The dream of producing films in large scale was attempted by Adhemar Gonzaga, who, in 1930, would open one of the first Brazilian studio, “Cinédia”. Without experienced technicians, several professionals from other countries were hired to work for the studio. Known for its popular productions, Cinédia was the pioneer of the “chanchadas”, a style of film which could be easily mistaken for a soft-porn. Following the trend of musical theatres, the cinema incorporated music in their plots, films like “A Voz do Carnaval” (1933), by Adhemar Gonzaga, “Os Estudantes” (1935) by Wallace Downey and “Alô, Alô, Carnaval” (1936), by Gonzaga brought Carmem Miranda, Oscarito, Grande Otelo, Dercy Gonçalves, Almirante and Ary Barroso, big names of music and radio, most of them having their first parts in film.
In 1896, with the first film projectors went from Europe to South America, the cinema arrived in Brazil. Two years later, in 1898, the first brazilian shooting would take place in national soil. According to official information, the Italian brothers, Affonso and Paschoal Segreto were responsible for the first film. Affonso shot his voyage from Italy to Brazil.
With time, the techniques were being developed and the themes evolved from daily facts to written stories. The brazilian cinema, was properly developed around 1910, when it started to imitate reality. Several crimes that occurred in the big cities were portrayed in the screens, taking the production to yet another level. Historical dramas and religious themes got some attention as well.
During the 10’s, the Brazilian cinema was purely amateurish and more developed countries as the US and France, had already started to be prototypes of the industries they would soon become. The import of films wouldn’t take much longer.
Brazil continued its production and towards the end of the decade, the first literature adaptations hit the screen. “Os Guaranis” by Brazilian writer José de Alencar, was shot in 1916 by Antônio Leal and “A Viuvinha ”, also from Alencar, was shot in the same year by Luiz de Barros.
The biggest problem was that those films were totally dependant on explanatory interludes to describe the countless complex dialogues and plot turns. With a primitive language, the dramatic structure couldn’t be sustained only through images; therefore the mute cinema was really an obstacle.
Foreign films started taking over, and the Brazilian cinema became marginalized, and that scenario would repeat throughout Brazilian history. Producer and exhibitor was the same person, as they had to produce a film to screen in their own theatres.
The cinema suffered from these factors and film production faded. Those who remained in the business, evolved in language, quality and stylistics towards the 20’s. Some films of that period became classics and got good response from the public. In 1927, sound was finally developed with the movie “The Jazz Singer ”. Cinema, which was now 30 years old, had its biggest evolution. The new possibilities of language become the main discussion among filmmakers. In Brazil, this possibility was frightening the producers. The productions costs were huge, the world was going through an enormous crisis, due to the NY crash of 1929 and the techniques of sound editing were still unattainable, especially because the cinema industry in Brazil was not evolved enough to develop it.
The first attempts were frustrated and happened while there were amazing mute films being produced as “São Paulo - Sinfonia da Metrópole ” (São Paulo, a Metropolitan Symphony, 1929) by Rodolfo Lustig e Adalberto Kemeny, “Barro Humano” (Human Clay, 1929) by Adhemar Gonzaga, “Ganga Bruta” (1933), by Humberto Mauro and “Limite ” (Limit, 1931), by Mário Peixoto.
Brazil’s own movie language was created in this period. Films like “Ganga Bruta”, already talked about Brazil’s main problems. The Brazilian countryside was portrayed outside the foreign aesthetics, with typical elements from that specific area, with no foreign interventions. Not only sound was a problem faced by Brazilian producers, the North American way of producing films was being adapted to the Brazilian reality. The dream of producing films in large scale was attempted by Adhemar Gonzaga, who, in 1930, would open one of the first Brazilian studio, “Cinédia”. Without experienced technicians, several professionals from other countries were hired to work for the studio. Known for its popular productions, Cinédia was the pioneer of the “chanchadas”, a style of film which could be easily mistaken for a soft-porn. Following the trend of musical theatres, the cinema incorporated music in their plots, films like “A Voz do Carnaval” (1933), by Adhemar Gonzaga, “Os Estudantes” (1935) by Wallace Downey and “Alô, Alô, Carnaval” (1936), by Gonzaga brought Carmem Miranda, Oscarito, Grande Otelo, Dercy Gonçalves, Almirante and Ary Barroso, big names of music and radio, most of them having their first parts in film.
