Brazilian national cinema
By: Lisa Shaw and Stephanie Dennison
Contributors: Dennison, Stephanie
Series: National cinemas; National cinemas series
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2007
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9781306717175
Subjects: Motion pictures; History; Cinéma; Histoire; Cine brasileño; Historia; Film; Brasilien
Description: Brazilian cinema is one of the most influential national cinemas in Latin America and this wide-ranging study traces the evolution of Brazilian film from the silent era to the present day, including detailed studies of more recent international box-office hits, such as Central Station (1998) and City of God (2002). Brazilian National Cinema gives due importance to traditionally overlooked aspects of Brazilian cinema, such as popular genres, ranging from musical comedies (the chanchada) to soft-core porn films (the pornochanchada) and horror films, and also provides a fresh approach to the internationally acclaimed avant-garde Cinema Novo of the 1960s. Lisa Shaw and Stephanie Dennison apply recent theories on stardom, particularly relating to issues of ethnicity, race and gender, to both well-known Brazilian performers, such as Carmen Miranda and Sonia Braga, and lesser known domestic icons, such as the Afro-Brazilian comic actor, Grande Otelo (Big Othello), and the uberblonde children's TV and film star, and media mogul, Xuxa. This timely addition to the National Cinemas series provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between Brazilian cinema and issues of national and cultural identity.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes filmography.
Table of contents: title: Part I: Cinema and the State. 1. The First Republic (1889-1930); title: 2. The Vargas years (1930-45) and (1951-54); title: 3. Filmmaking and the dictatorship (1964-84); title: 4. Cinema and redemocratization (1984-2006). Part II: Defining 'National' Cinema, 1896 to 1960. 5. The Pioneers; title: 6. The Chanchada, the only Brazilian Genre? III: Defining 'National' Cinema since 1960. 7. Cinema novo; title: 8. Pornochanchada; title: 9. The nation in contemporary cinema. Part IV: Brazilian Identities on Screen: Stars.; title: 10. The stars of the chanchadas, 1933-1960; title: 11. Icons of Popular Culture post-1960; title: 12. Bombshells: pin-up actresses post-1960. Notes; title: Filmography; title: Index.