Brazilian Cinema

Abstract

Studies of Brazilian cinema came to the fore in the 1960s and 1970s with the emergence of the avant-garde, politicized Cinema Novo, which dialogued with New Wave cinemas in Europe, particularly France, and in other parts of Latin America. Several landmark studies by scholars such as Ismail Xavier and Randal Johnson analyzed the movement in depth and remain key works. Since then, scholarship in both Portuguese and English has broadened its scope to embrace commercially oriented Brazilian films dating back to the early sound era, including popular genres (such as in the work of João Luiz Vieira, Stephanie Dennison, and Lisa Shaw), as well as the historical evolution of Brazilian cinema, and the relationship between the film industry and the state throughout the 20th century and into the new millennium. Most recently, various scholars in Brazil and abroad, notably Lúcia Nagib, have analyzed the nation’s cinematic output, particularly since its “rebirth” in the mid-1990s—the so-called retomada—from a thematic perspective, focusing on the reworking of themes from Cinema Novo—such as poverty and violence—in nonpoliticized, box-office hits, such as Central do Brasil (Central Station, 1998, dir. Walter Salles) and Cidade de Deus (City of God, 2002, dirs. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund), or within the wider context of Latin American production. Following in the wake of the seminal work of Robert Stam, issues of race and ethnicity continue to provide a focus for studies of Brazilian cinema, as do questions of sexuality and gender. Scholars are increasingly turning their attentions to questions of the national and the transnational in post-retomada films, and are now looking at Brazilian film history from new perspectives, such as the role and significance of film stars and their marketing, as well as cinema’s relationship with other media and arts.