Flânerie and Invasion in the Monstrous City: São Paulo in recent cinema

Abstract

Changes in the physical space of São Paulo are the focus of three films released early in the 21st century: O Príncipe (2002; The Prince), by Ugo Giorgetti; Urbânia (2001), by Flávio Frederico; and O Invasor (2002; The Trespasser), by Beto Brant. All three films convey a sense of deep division in the urban space by focusing on the “invasion” of certain parts of São Paulo by people who supposedly do not belong there: homeless, squatters, inhabitants of periferia. But they do so in different ways. The first two films play with the identification between viewers and the gaze of their flâneur-protagonists, creating, as a result, a shared feeling of nostalgia for a city that no longer exists. O Invasor, by contrast, uses camera work to de-stabilize the viewers' gaze, much complicating our attempts to identify with its protagonists and their ways of looking at the city. This paper will examine how gaze (camera gaze, characters' gaze, implied viewers' gaze) relates to issues of class difference and spatial division in the three films, paying most attention to O Invasor. By comparing this film to O Príncipe and Urbânia, it will re-assess the meanings of the invasion suggested in its title.