Lusophone Films in the UGA Media Department
Compiled by - Laura D. Shedenhelm
Portuguese is spoken in several parts of the world. The following films are either in Portuguese, or are from or about one of the areas where Portuguese is spoken.
Antonio Carlos Jobim: An All-star Tribute
Videofilmes, 1994. 60 mins.
Directed by Walter Salles, Jr.Performers: Shirley Horn, Gonzalo
Rubalcaba, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Gal Costa, Antonio Carlos
Jobim, Jon Hendricks.
From Brazil comes this musical tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994),
co-founder and leading composer of the Bossa Nova. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 2518.1. Not rated.
Black Orpheus = Orfeu Negro
Tupan Filmes, 1959. 98 mins. Directed by
Marcel Camus. Starring: Breno Mello (Orfeo), Marpessa Dawn (Eurydice),
Lourdes de Oliveira (Mira), Léa Garcia (Serafina), Adhemar Ferreira
da Silva (Death). In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Inspired from the play: Orfeu da conceição by Vinícius
de Moraes. Eurydice, a Brazilian country girl, arrives in Rio de Janeiro
the day before the Carnival to get away from a persistent suitor. She
meets Orfeo, a black street-car driver, who is almost worshipped by
the people of the black quarter as a guitar-player and dancer. They
fall in love at first sight. At his suggestion, she takes part as a
dancer in the next day's performance. This stirs up the jealousy of
Mira, Orfeo's fiancée-partner. Eurydice sees her pursuer and
seeks refuge in a street-car depot where Orfeo accidentally kills her.
He searches for and finds her in the mortuary. He carries her back to
the hill where Mira and the others he has spurned throw him over the
cliff. The lovers are united in death. UGA Libraries
Media Department: VHS 156.1 and Laser 15.1-2. Rated PG.
Bye Bye Brasil = Bye Bye Brazil
Carnaval Films, 1979. 110 mins. Directed
by Carlos Diegues. Starring: José Wilker, Betty Faria, Zaira
Zambelli, Fabio Junior. Portuguese dialogue, English subtitles.
A changing Brazil is seen through the eyes of four wandering minstrels,
gypsy actors exploring the exotic and picturesque north. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 206.1. Rated R.
O cangaceiro
Vera Cruz
Studios, 1953. 105 mins., in black & white.
Directed by Lima Barreto. Starring: Alberto Ruschel, Marisa Prado, Milton
Ribeiro, Vanja Orico. In Portuguese.
A gang of bandits raids a village and kidnaps the local school teacher.
One of the bandits, Teodoro, falls in love with the beautiful teacher.
A review of the film by critic Luciano Ramos precedes the film. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 215.1. Not rated.
Carnaval 87
Sistema Globo,
1987. 110 mins. Directed by Zelito Viana.
Narration: Lanning Elwis. In English and Portuguese.
Shows the carnival in Rio de Janeiro in 1987, with participants dressed
in different costumes, floats, music and people dancing to Samba. The
Samba groups show the history, the art, and the customs of the people
of Brazil. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS
226.1. Not rated.
Os condenados.
Globo Video,
1974. 80 mins. Directed by Zelito Viana.
Starring: Isabel
Ribeiro, Cláudio Marzo, Enio Santos. In Portuguese.
The story of a São Paulo prostitute in the 1920's. Based on the
novel by Oswald de Andrade. UGA Libraries Media
Department: VHS 276.1. Not rated.
Cork from Portugal
Portuguese
Trade Commission, 1996. 14 mins.
Documentary describing the cultivation and production of cork from the
raw stage to finished product. UGA Libraries Media
Department: VHS 2607.1. Not rated.
Doces poderes = Sweet Powers
Riofilme, 1996. 95 mins. Directed by Lúcia
Murat. Starring: Marisa Orth, Antônio Fagundes, Tuca Andrada,
Sérgio Mamberti, Otávio Augusto. In Portuguese with English
subtitles.
Based on Brazilian filmmaker-journalist Lucia Murat's experiences, this
film dramatizes the moral conflicts between careerism, political expediency,
and personal and professional ideals. Also called: Sweet Power.
UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3523.1.
Not rated.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Carnaval/New Yorker Films, 1977. 110 mins.
English version. Directed by Bruno Barreto. Starring: Sonia Braga, José
Wilker, Mauro Mendonça.
Based on the novel Dona Flor e seus dois maridos by Jorge Amado. When
Dona Flor's philandering husband expires, she remarries a boringly proper
husband only to have husband number one's ghost return. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 388.1. Rated R.
Limite. Cinédia, 1931
2 hours, silent film in black & white.
Directed by Mario Peixoto. Starring: Olga Breno, Taciana Rei, Raul Schonoor,
Mário Peixoto, Edgar Brazil. Portuguese intertitles.
Fully restored in 1971, Limite is a surrealistic work dealing with the
conflicts raised by the human condition and the ways in which life conspires
to prevent total fulfillment. It is considered a landmark film in Brazilian
cinema history. UGA Libraries Media Department:
VHS (in process). Not rated.
Memórias do cárcere = Memoirs of Prison
Regina Filmes, 1984. 2
hours, 1 min. Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Starring:
Carlos Vereza, Glória Pires, Jofre Soares, José Dumont,
Nildo Parente. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Graciliano Ramos, under suspicion of extreme left-wing views, was imprisoned
on a penal isle near Rio de Janeiro from 1936-1937 during a period of
political repression. Story is adapted from his vivid recollections
of prison life. Also called: Memories of Prison. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 3012.1. Not rated.
Menino de Engenho
Mapa
Filmes, 1965. 110 mins., in black & white.
Directed by Walter Lima Jr. Starring: Geraldo del Rey, Sávio
Rolim, Anecy Rocha, Maria Lúcia Dahl, Antonio Pitanga. In Portuguese.
Based on the novel by José Lins do Rego. The story of a young
boy Carlinhos whose mother dies suddenly and is sent to live with his
relatives in Engenho Santa Rosa. It shows how he works as a servant
and finally his triumph over his environment. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 860.1. Not rated.
The Mission
Warner Bros.,
1986. 2 hours, 5 mins. Directed by Roland
Joffé. Starring: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally,
Ronald Pickup, Chuck Low, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi.
A Spanish Jesuit goes into the Brazilian wilderness to build a mission
in the hope of converting the Indians of the region. A slave hunter
is converted and joins the priest in his mission. When Spain sells the
colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against
the Portuguese aggressors. UGA Libraries Media
Department: LASER 53.1-2. Rated PG.
Mulheres negras = Black Women of Brazil
Conselho Estadual da Condição Femina, 1986.
25 mins. Directed and edited by Marcia
Meireles, Sylvana Afram. Interviewer: Jacira Melo. Portuguese with English
voiceover narration.
Consists of personal testimonies on the conditions of black women in
Brazil. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 2970.1.
Not rated.
A Ópera do malandro
Sistema Globo, 1985. 108 mins. Directed
by Ruy Guerra. Starring: Edson Celulari, Cláudia Ohana, Elba
Ramalho, Ney Latorraca. In Portuguese and English with Portuguese subtitles.
Based on Opera do malandro by Chico Buarque. In Rio de Janeiro's bohemian
district called Lapa, during the 1940s, a stylish and popular scoundrel
exploits a cabaret singer, and earns his living by means of petty swindles.
But then he meets Ludmila, the cabaret owner's daughter, who wants to
get rich smuggling goods in times of war. UGA
Libraries Media Department: VHS 966.1. Not rated.
Pixote: a lei do mais fraco
Unifilm/Embrafilme, 1981. 2 hours, 2 mins.
Directed by Hector Babenco. Starring: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Marilla
Pera, Jorge Juliao, Gilberto Moura, Jose Nilson dos Santos. In Portuguese
with English subtitles.
From the book Infancia dos mortos by José Louzeiro. "Ten-year-old
Pixote (Portuguese slang for 'Peewee') is one of three million homeless
children in Brazil. Hauled off to a crowded detention center, wide-eyed
Pixote witnesses rapes, beatings and other acts of random violence by
both the guards and the inmates. With the transvestite Lilica and his
lover Dito, Pixote escapes from the reform school where he and his friends
hit the streets alone, embarking on a life of violence and crime."--Container.
UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 1030.1.
Rated R.
Quincas Borba
Secretaria
de Estado da Cultura de São Paulo, 1987. 116
mins. Directed by Roberto Santos. Starring: Helber Rangel, Fúlvio
Stefanini, and Brigitte Broder. In Portuguese.
Based on the book by Machado de Assis (1839-1908) and adapted to the
present time. After the death of the philosopher Quincas Borba, his
friend and disciple Rubiao inherits all he possessed: his fortune, his
dog, his philosophy and the germ of his madness. Rubiao's passion for
Sofia, a friend's wife, places him at the center of a game in which
she is the main piece while he is the only one who ignores the rules.
The story of a dreamer and delirious man facing a reality to which he
is not prepared. UGA Libraries Media Department:
VHS 1084.1. Not rated.
O Rei do Rio
Embrafilme,
1985. 107 mins. Directed by Fábio
Barreto. Starring: Nuno Leal Maia, Nelson Xavier, Milton Gonçalves,
Amparo Grizales. In Portuguese.
Two men, friends since their childhood, become rivals in a struggle
for power and territory in the Brazilian underworld. Based on the musical
play O rei de ramos by Dias Gomes. UGA Libraries
Media Department: VHS 1118.1. Not rated.
Terra em transe = A Land in Distress
Mapa Difilm, 1966. 117 mins., in
black & white. Directed by Glauber Rocha. Starring: Jardel
Filho, Paulo Autran, José Lewgoy, Glauce Rocha, Paulo Gracindo.
In Portuguese with English subtitles.
A young poet and journalist is persuaded by his lover to become involved
in the politics of his country. UGA Libraries
Media Department: VHS 2581.1. Not rated.
Udju azul di Yonta = The Blue Eyes of Yonta
Vermedia, Arco-Iris, Eurocreation Production, Rádiotelevisão
Portuguesa, 1991. 90 mins. Directed by
Flora Gomes. Starring: Maysa Marta, Pedro Dias, António Simão
Mendes, Mohamed Lamine Seidi, Bia Gomes. In Criolo (Portuguese) with
English subtitles.
Offers a portrait of the disillusionment of the revolutionary generation
in Guinea-Bissau and the vibrant, if unintended, society which developed
after independence in 1973. Tells the story of three people so in love
with their dreams that they miss the real opportunities which life offers.
UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3621.1.
Not rated.
