Beyond the Kidnapping of History: O que é isso, companheiro?, Neoliberal Adaptation, and the Battle over the Aesthetics of Memory

• Frans Weiser ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Georgia

     University of Georgia

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Chasqui: revista de literatura latinoamericana, ISSN 0145-8973, Vol. 53, Nº. 1, 2024, págs. 67-94
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In 1986, the same year he cofounded the Partido Verde to formalize his support for environmental justice and inclusion of marginalized social groups, he unsuccessfully campaigned for the governorship of Rio de Janeiro. While Gabeira's commercial viability and public break with Marxist protocols, which became emblematic of Brazil's new political climate during the abertura period, had made the traditional left uncomfortable,3 the popularity of the film was in turn overshadowed by accusations of apologist rhetoric for the dictatorship and historical disinformation, while Barreto was taken to court by the aggrieved family of Virgilio Gomes da Silva (codename "Jonas") for defamation. The creation of new financial incentives within the private market, established under the 1993 Audiovisual Law, paved the way for a gradual revival of film production, with eleven films released in 1994, and while the early 2000s held steady at thirty annual productions, by 2011 the number of movies was trending towards one hundred. Nonetheless, with the exception of memory work by scholars like Paulo Moreira, the film has in fact been evaluated essentially in isolation, as if an example of "auteur" cinema rather than a continuum of content and aesthetic decisions influenced by a number of market concerns.6 Significantly, the reaction was not only academic; at a contentious lecture televised by Globo in which Barreto and Gabeira defended the adaptation, it was clear from the nature of audience questions that they were completely unfamiliar with the source material.