History, Resistance, Comedy

Abstract

In this chapter I will discuss how history—or versions of it—is incorporated in Mazzaropi’s films, especially in Candinho (Little Candide, 1953), Casinha pequenina (Little House, 1963), O lamparina (Little Gas Lamp, 1964), O puritano da rua Augusta (The Puritan of Augusta Street, 1965), O corintiano (The Corinthians Fan, 1966), and O jeca e a egua milagrosa—(Jeca and the Miraculous Mare, 1980). The history presented in these films does not, obviously, participate in any official historical discourse. It does, nevertheless, attempt to come to terms with the fact of Brazil, the country and the nation, its peoples and its problems, and, especially, the larger political impli-cations of the various issues presented in the narratives. The films do not propose to resolve national problems or to replace “official history.” In fact, Mazzaropi himself never claimed to be making historical films. Nevertheless, as works of art, all these films carry in them implicit the possibility of tak-ing the Portuguese word “historia” in its two meanings, both as “history” and as “story.” As “stories” the films aim to entertain with amusing situations that provoke laughter; as “history” they focus on the life of a subaltern group whose struggles and difficulties are not usually represented in the “official history” of the country. If taken as “history,” these films can be seen not necessarily as records of historical fact, but perhaps as attempts made by one artist to reinstate in the national discourse, if not solutions, at least “micro” perspectives on historical—“macro”—events that the common people witness, but can rarely change.