Questioning the Brazilian Status Quo through Brechtian Techniques in Sérgio Bianchi’s Art Films

Abstract

We have analyzed the use of Brechtian techniques in the films of the director Sérgio Bianchi to question the status quo in Brazilian culture. His films, Quanto vale ou é por quilo? and Cronicamente inviável, presents filmic techniques that allow the spectator to have a more critical view of national current affairs. The oeuvre of Bianchi is politically engaged and it includes several polemic themes, for instance, the corruption of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), racial prejudice, exploitation of people in need to obtain financial profit etc. Bianchi uses techniques that deconstruct supposed truths and untouchable concepts of a society with false morality. Brecht’s techniques seem chaotic, but the chaos make it possible for spectators to deconstruct rooted principals in the Brazilian society. Brecht argued that cinema can generate a convincing illusion that does not give the chance for spectators to have critical thinking (2000). In order to overcome this trend, his techniques break the sequence of the filmic plot through the insertion of different textual genres.