Joaquim Pedro de Andrade

Rio de Janeiro-born Joaquim Pedro de Andrade (1932-1988) directed the most popular film of Cinema Novo/Tropicalist era, Macunaíma (1969). Although he's best known for this film -- which was, anecdotally, re-titled "Jungle Freaks" by its American distributor, New Line, and released in a English-dubbed version --, Andrade had a productive career as a Brazilian filmmaker, completing six features and eight shorts before his untimely death at the age of 56 from lung cancer.

His entire filmography, which has been meticulously restored, will be shown next month at the Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema (where I'll be present).

Next week in class we will watch Macunaíma. In homage to this little-known filmmaker, I offer the following collection of stills, one from each of his fourteen films (displayed in backwards chronological order from when they were made):

















Filmography: O mestre de Apipucos (1959), O poeta do Castelo (1959), Couro de gato/Cat Leather (1960), Garrincha, Joy of the People (1962), The Priest and the Girl (1965), Cinema Novo (1966), Brasília: Contradictions of a New City (1967), Macunaíma (1969), A linguagem da persuasão/The Language of Persuasion (1970), The Conspirators (1971), Conjugal Warfare (1974), Tropical Shortcut (1976), O Alejadinho (1978), The Man from Pau-Brazil (1981)

Donald Duck gets drunk on cachaça and samba

Despite my aversions to how Brazilians have been portrayed in the mass media over the last seventy years, this Walt Disney piece is one I have fond memories of and was glad to see again (courtesy YouTube poster):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMd0Iw1t9Co

Religious Right

Sorry this is soo late. I just thought this was an interesting article showing two different political/religious opinions from two very devout christian men

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15566654/site/newsweek/

Group C? "Foreign Policy" Group

Sorry, I forgot what letter group we were.

Anyhow...interesting article I stumbled upon. Discusses some of the things we were talking about in class and raises some other interesting points...

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/03/25/wld01.asp

Group D (cont.)

Sorry for the delay in posting articles.

Here are some links:

Texas Governor Orders STD Vaccine For All Girls
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16948093/


Merchants of Cool (documentary about marketing toward teens)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/
(it was made about five years ago, but is still relevant today)

Something for GROUP A

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/42/index-eec.html

Found this link while searching around. We may be able to use this and do a better compare/ contrast with Brazil.

An Editor's outlook on "Sao Paulo"

Thus far in class I would have to say that this film has been my favorite. It was so wonderful to watch; it was interesting and pleasing to the eye. This film is my Brazilian Cinema break through. Not that any of the other films we have screened are any less of a film, it is just that "Sao Paulo" took a large step into t new direction for Brazilian cinema and it worked spectacularly.

The film begins with an opening shot of what we find out to be the closing shot. No opening credits nothing, right in to a domestically violent scene that grabs you by the eyeballs and wont let you go until the beginning and end meet up to end the film. Jump cuts, non-linear editing and stylistic shots give this film more emotion and feeling that i have experienced with any of the other films. It felt very modern and fresh.

I like how that in class we were having the discussion on how the cuts did not make any sense, and that some of the shots were not necessary to use. For example we were talking about the beach scene where Carlos slaps around the girl when he sees her out having fun but then then there is a rapid cut to the both of them making out. This was a bit confusing to a few and myself at first but we find out that it was a thought, a day-dream if you may. This style of editing plays through out the film some as mer thoughts others as flashbacks. The film as a whole was very well done and very enjoyable to watch.

A Reflection: "Sao Paulo"

I am always thankful as a future filmmaker to see a film that re-inspires me and reminds me of the power and responsibility we as filmmakers hold. Although "Sao Paulo" is the story of one man, it regretfully embodies the spirit of many men.

What is so powerful about this film is its undeniable ability to reach audiences beyond culture and time. I was awakened by the film’s humanity and unapologetic empathy for all of man’s struggles no matter how big or small.

Here's another Iraqi death toll....from BBC world news

"The British government was advised against publicly criticising a report estimating that 655,000 Iraqis had died due to the war, the BBC has learnt."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6495753.stm

WAR ON TERROR?

Iraq War Results & Statistics as of March 14, 2007

It's difficult to get accurate numbers but this was what I was looking for:

"Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualities have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000. "

This is completely crazy. At least 100,000 civilians, probably much higher?

http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm

Truth and Lies In The War On Terror

More Propaganda by the imperial powers. Justification of conflicts

group D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6443191.stm
... this should be relevant.

To whom it may concern: Group A,B,C or the "so called war on terror group."

Here's some interesting stuff I've been reading on the Imperial nonsense of our nation. Terrorism is just another excuse for the powers that be to maintain their stranglehold on society.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=174764

I found Vidas Secas to be a very difficult film to watch. It was not entertaining, it was not enjoyable. It had very little aesthetic appeal in a conventional sense. But it was real, painfully real.

I found a review on JSTOR of Vidas Secas. It's author, Randall Conrad, writes that it the film seems to belong more to old styles like Neorealism than to any sort of new wave. I think Conrad neglects that Vidas Secas was a new step for Brazil. Also, that it was only par of the first step of Cinema Novo.

What I thought was most interesting about Vidas Secas was the use of empty frames. The title, "barren lives" seems to be emphasized by a visual motif of emptiness. Often the camera will stay for a few seconds on vast desert without any characters or places or even animals in the shot. Nelson Pereiro Dos Santos use of sound aids this motif as well: void of a traditional score and minimal with dialogue.

The lack of conventional visuals and sounds makes the scenes that do contain action- such as the killing f the parrot or the gambling scene in the town- seem more real and under dramatized.

Despite the fact that Vidas Secas is such a personal film, I couldn't help but feel like the peasant family in the film represented all of Brazil's lower class, in a national political/social sense. Perhaps they even stand for all of Brazil in a national sense. The military (the soldier) and the wealthier class (landowner) are responsible for their grave misfortune-- but they long to be like those members of the upper class (rather than a stable middle class life), on several occasions fantasizing about "leather beds".

Group C:Jesus Camp Video

Here is a video from ABC about Jesus Camp

BRAZILIAN FILMS ARE BORING

Check out Irish films. As with the discussion in class, my parents brought over some Irish films. If anyone has a particular one they want to see let me know, if theres enough interest we can organise a screening. The films are
Adam and Paul (Tom Murphy)
Breakfast on Pluto (Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Neil Jordan directed)
Dancing at lunghasa (Meryl Streep, shot in my town)
The field (old classic)
Intermission (Colin Farrel, Cillian murphy)
Mise eire (1st irish and gaelic film, documentary, may not be watchable, im not sure if subtitles work)
Spin The Bottle (tv show spin off)
Wind that shakes the barley (Palme dor winner, Cillian Murphy, Ken Loach directed)
So holla at me

Group C

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2006/11/28/
america,_not_keith_ellison,_decides_what_book_a_congressman_
takes_his_oath_on

Yeah I chose this article in particular because it shows how ridiculous people can be when it comes to things like this.

Group A

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0707/airport.html
This is a news story from last summer, when it was widely thyought that terrorists would strike in Dublin because of American military aircraft stopping in one of our airports and possibly torturing terror suspects. Ireland was thought to be a legitimate target and this story happened on the anniversary of the London bombings. An arab woman travelling from Dublin airport was stopped by security guards and asked to come with them. The woman got understanably flustered and left behind some of her luggage. When other security guards patrolled the airport they found her luggage with a copy of the koran on top. Cue mass panic, an airport evacuation and 12,000 people with cancelled flights. The amazing thing about the story is that this is not how the media reported it. They make it sound like the copy of the koran was in her bag which is a lie. I know this because of friends who work in the airport. So i thought it was pretty interesting.

Plantation Boy

The discussion after the film gave me a better idea of what I had just seen. I had not thought that it was the child's memories of what was going on, per se, but more of an interpretation of what the child's memories were, though that might be the same thing. Despite the fact that I obviously am not as clear as I thought I was on this film, I thought it was haunting and sweet. It was interesting and touching to see the different facets of his family and how they embraced him and to also see them through his eyes and memories. There were so many small moments that became magnified simply because they were captured on film and deemed important enough for the camera to linger around. I love films and filmmakers who use part of their time to show things that aren't essential to the plot but are essential top the feel of the film and to understand who these characters are so the moments we share with them feel like what it would feel like if we shared a once in a lifetime moment with a character. As for a lack of a central dramatic question, I'm glad to see films that kind of scoff at that way of film making and instead paint a picture that stands on its own and lets you make your own experience out of it. I particularly liked looking back at someones child hood because it brought me back to the great and sad times of my childhood. The film seemed long even though it really wasn't, and this is due to the strategy of pacing the filmmaker decided to take, which I'm fine with. I think for a film to drag a little bit is a good sacrifice for the feel that it was going for, which, in my opinion, it suceeded fairly well.

Plantation Boy

I very much enjoyed Plantation Boy. A little bit of what we discussed in class was how the entire film seems to represent a sort of juxtaposition of all these memories the boy had growing up. I think these moments are most evident through the music. Like when the young girl (the boys "first love") is flailing her arms around in the air as she spins. It is that sort of romanticism with music and story that gives you a sense of this boy's memories. Both what he deemed happy memories (like the ones I just stated), and what he deemed darker ones (the death of his mother, the slaughtering of his sheep).

Even when his sheep does get slaughtered, it is rather sudden. It happens abruptly. At one moment everything seems fine, and then suddenly the boy is running to go save his sheep from death. Very much like a memory, the movie doesn't reflect on all that happened leading up to the death of the sheep, it just reflects on the significant points, like the killing itself. These are the moments we remember, and we forget everything else.

A very interesting narrative structure and one that is done very well.

Plantation Boy

The most memorable images from this film were the beginning and the end. I thought they were done really well. The editing in the beginning was interesting because it seemed like they just wanted to get to the story right away. I thought it worked because you get the basics of what happened and we see the main character leave for the plantation. The film definitely felt like a memory with drifting parts. There were some great visuals and I enjoyed the movie overall.

Group B!

http://www.votenader.org/issues/index.php?cid=29
Yes, this is from a Pro-Nader website, but I stumbled upon it and he has nothing to do with what I found interesting.

The rounding up of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans and residents by the government that blurred the clear distinction between immigration cases and terrorism investigations. CAIR cites a report by the Office of Inspector General of the Justice Department which found that between September 11, 2001 and August 2002 the government arrested 738 Muslims and Arabs whose entry visas had expired. In doing so they interfered with their access to lawyers, blocked access by family members and even denied them the constitutional right of obtaining information on charges against them. The Justice Department’s own Office of Inspector General also reported that many were held in inhumane conditions including being contained in jail cells for 23 hours a day, taunting of prisoners and slamming prisoners against walls. Security tapes of the Bureau of Prisons show 308 incidents of physical abuse by staff of federal prisons. None of these hundreds of detainees were found to have links to terrorism.

Anyway, I think we should have our supposed gay-character get threatened with deportation.

Brazil in the News

Bush greeted by clashes in Brazil
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6430951.stm?ls

Plantation Boy.

I have to say i didnt really like this film. I found the story all over the place. There wasn't really an explanation of the murder at the beginning, too many characters drifted in and out and there didnt seem to be a central dramatic question. Visually it was great, with the opening sequence a great example of Limas intuitive camera direction. I would have preferred a clear theme or motif and for Lima to run with that instead of making the story too expansive when it really didnt need to be.

BIG SEXY DANCE PARTY

Or the screening of practicum films from my college Dublin Institute of Technology. Its this Thursday in Hokin Hall in 623 Wabash. It starts at 6 and goes on to about 8 or so. Theres a quick Q and A and then on to Kaseys at 701 Dearborn which is two blocks away. It should be a really fun night. And the camera mans mother once went to Argentina, which is all i have to qualify posting it on this blog.

Sorry Group C

Sorry I forgot to post the link to the article.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou060928_cd_jesus.27af610a.html

Group C

Hey Guys
Check out this article from one of Houston's local TV stations, on the "2nd Coming of Christ"

Glauber Rocha

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/rocha.html

A must-read! ;)

Brazil's Slums

Well....I'm finally able to post.

Anyways, just wanted to share a conversation I had with my grandmother earlier today. I don't particularly recall how we got started on the subject, but she was telling me of her experience growing up and she mentioned how her and a few of her friends got caught egging some houses when they were younger (oh, teenagers). Anyways, the story goes that a cop caught them in the act and shoved her and two of her friends into his squad car. The officer then threatened to kill them but ultmitately decided it would be better for him to drop them off at the favelas, which he did. The whole ride there he just laughed and teased them about how they were going to get raped and murdered. Pretty disturbing stuff.

Anyways, I assure you this has a point, but I just decided to bring up this story because I was reading one of the posts mentioning some Brazilian Documentaries, and one post discussed the documentary Bus 174. Anyways, I found this interesting because if you've seen the film, you know about the message it sends on cops vs. criminals and the very grey area regarding both. This made me think of her story, since she stated to me that once the officer dropped her and her friends off at the favela, the only reason she believes they made it out of there unscathed is because she literally saw people running into shadows and dark corners, hiding from the squad car as it pulled up. She said they were truly terrified of the sight of the car. Everybody hid.

So, yeah, a very unnerving story but interesting none the less. Like Bus 174, sort of makes you question who the bad guys are.

Deus e o Diabo Na Terra do Sol (1963), Savage Poetry

It is noted though I'm not sure where the source comes from, that Spanish director Luis Bunuel referred to Gauber Rocha's Deus e o Diabo Na Terra do Sol (1963) as a film of poetic savagery. I could not agree with him more, learning of Bunuel's admiration helps shed light on some of the similar subject matter he tackled in Simon del Desierto (1965). Rocha's film is a visual collage that relentlessly begs the spectator to connect the montage of shots, that never specifically outline a narrative. Metaphors bombard this picture, the desert, the animals, the characters, the interiors and exteriors as well as the sound. The great triumph of this film rests in the editing of brilliant shots that poetically convey to us the inhumanity oppressing the landless and the madness that ensues because of it.

Though montage is key to the expressionistic rhythm of this film, there are stark contrasts that demand we adhere to the environment. The spatial emptiness that underline the characters confusion and stress for example are usually depicted in long takes. There are also moments when the soundtrack seems to imply a certain absurdity within a particular character and their motivation. This is seen explicitly on some of the longer close ups on Sebastiao and Corisco. The use of sound in this film is put to test when we hear Rosa's agonizing screams as Manuel embarks upon his mad choices. The use of the Priest Sebastiao demands that we reflect on the meaning of peasant revolt perhaps? I tend to understand his presence as a tool that alludes to the release of the poor from their hardship, much like Marx, the combination of religion and violence is the opiate of the peasants in this film.

Deus e o Diabo Na Terra do Sol is a reflective film in the most original of ways. The combination of static and jump shots implies that we reflect on the state of being of the characters and the environment; it also demands that we interpret the absurd helplessness of the characters and the environment. Such savage poetry is meant to question the uses of revolt and what those measures actually accomplish for those truly oppressed.

Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol

I really liked Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol. Its (still) a touchy subject to broach and it was done well. I can really see the Eisenstein influence particularly in the massacre scene. The characters wants and needs were easy to see and it was real filmmaking. I like it when a film offers a statement and questions but no easy answers just like the leads plight which is kind of ironic.

Notícias de uma Guerra Particular (1999) - News From a Personal War

I wanted to create a post about this documentary after reading Dave's entry about Brazilian docs. This film is actually on the special features of the City of God dvd. Although I thought City of God was amazing, I was even more impressed with the documentary about the present day social problems in Rio's slums. Here's a brief synopsis:

Documentary about urban violence in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Policemen, drug dealers, and shantytown dwellers get trapped into a daily war that knows no winners.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296108/

Keepin' it realism

Vidas Secas reminded me an awful lot of a popular Italian neo realist film called the "Bicycle Thief." This is the quintessential neo realist film, and it is not difficult to draw parallels to the themes and imagery of Vidas Secas. Both films address the issues of poverty, or more so... impoverished families. If we look for some sort of realist movement in american cinema, the first thing that comes to my mind would have to be Cassevetes and his cohorts of the revolution in independent film. Though the themes of these films weren't about the issues of scarcity... but of wealth and abundance. The majority of Cassevettes' films concerned the issues of love and family in an all american setting. His characters struggle for their wants, and overall, perfection. If you compare our country to another, it's an obvious case; while third world countries struggle to survive... we struggle for perfection. I believe that the majority of "social issues" that are addressed in american films today have more to do with appearances and sexuality. In order for films like these to be successful in conveying a humanitarian message, they must tell us that these are superficial issues. I feel that the the messages of Cassevetes', and any neo realist films are much more timeless. It was a truly visceral experience to see a film like Vidas Secas come along and portray a boundless humanitarian message, even just through its imagery.