Portugal's Global Cinema: Industry, History and Culture

Description

Portuguese cinema has become increasingly prominent on the international film festival circuit, proving the country's size belies its cultural impact. From the prestige of directors Manoel de Oliveira, Pedro Costa and Miguel Gomes, to box-office hit La Cage Doree, aspects of Portuguese national cinema are widely visible although the output is comparatively small compared to European players like the UK, Germany and France. Considering this strange discrepancy prompts the question: how can Portuguese cinema be characterised and thought about in a global context? Accumulating expertise from an international group of scholars, this book investigates the shifting significance of the nation, Europe and the globe for the way in which Portuguese film is managed on the international stage. Chapters argue that film industry professionals and artisans must navigate complex globalised systems that inform their filmmaking decisions. Expectations from multi-cultural audiences, as well as demands from business investors and the criteria for critical accolades put pressure on Portuguese cinema to negotiate, for example, how far to retain national identities on screen and how to interact with `popular' and `art' film tropes and labels. Exploring themes typical of Portuguese visual culture - including social exclusion and unemployment, issues of realism and authenticity, and addressing Portugal's postcolonial status - this book is a valuable study of interest to the ever-growing number of scholars looking outside the usual canons of European cinema, and those researching the ongoing implications of national cinema's global networks. Cover Author biography Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction: Framing the Global Appeal of Contemporary Portuguese Cinema Portuguese cinema on the international stage Cinema of small nations: between globalization and internationalization Key issues in contemporary Portuguese cinema 1 Filming Narratives Becoming Events: Documentary and the ‘Emplotments’ of the Carnation Revolution Narratives of the Carnation Revolution: an introduction Scenes from the class struggle in Portugal Revolution as narrative 2 Our Beloved Month of August: Between the Filming of the Real and the Reality of Filming The reality of filming Filming of the real Just so: love for reality, desire for cinema Conclusion: the section which isn’t there 3 Political Oliveira Legacy of the empire 4 Portugal, Europe and the World: Geopolitics and the Human Condition in Manoel de Oliveira’s Films Regional/National Supranational/Transnational/Global Universal/Local Conclusion 5 Amália (2008): Stories of a Singer and Tales of a National Cinema Amália and fado biographies Between Hollywood melodrama and national Portuguese cinema 6 La Cage Dorée/The Gilded Cage: A Franco-Portuguese Comedy of Integration French comedy of integration Negotiating Portuguese stereotypes Music, nostalgia, modernity Conclusion 7 Cinema and the City in European Portugal The complex relationship between Portugal and Europe Lisbon Story and European postcards Portugal, Europe and heritage in Porto of My Childhood Conclusion 8 Contextualizing Pedro Costa’s Digital Filmmaking Digital cinema as a (low-budget) production paradigm Filmmaking at the interstices Authorship renegotiated Conclusion 9 Broken Links: The Cinema of Teresa Villaverde The holy family Forms and transformations Figures and feelings 10 Mysteries of Raúl Ruiz’s Portugal: Territory, Littoral, City and Memory Bridge Portugal as Ruizian territory Three Crowns of a Sailor (1982), City of Pirates (1983) and impossible cartographies Mysteries of Lisbon and mysteries of enchantment 11 White Faces/Black Masks: The White Woman’s Burden in Pedro Costa’s Down to Earth Remaking Hollywood? Volcanoes, zombies, crazy women Neo-colonial gaze, desire and sexuality Female embodiment of male masochism: between science and sexuality Conclusion: a dystopian Island of Love? 12 Light Drops: Portugal Critically Reviewing the Colonial Past? Light Drops as post-colonial film Rui Pedro’s two families Post-colonialism and nostalgia? 13 Colonialism as Fantastic Realism in Tabu Historical detours The non-story and the index Fantasy as truth procedure 14 Luso-Brazilian Co-Productions: Rescue and Expansion Globalization and the national cinemas of Brazil and Portugal The role of co-productions in Brazilian and Portuguese cinema Conclusion Bibliography Index