Brazilian cinema and the myth of “Rio de Janeiro: The Marvelous City”

Authors

  • Maria Helena Braga e Vaz da Costa Departamento de Artes / Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/fem.2013.153.05

Abstract

This paper will discuss the representation of the “myth” of the marvelous city attributed to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro by looking at the contemporary Brazilian film production and its creation of new paradigms for representing and understanding Brazilian cultural identity. It will also comment on the concept of production of space through the analysis of the cinematic representation of Rio de Janeiro in the film The Man of the Year (O Homem do Ano, José Guilherme Fonseca, 2002). This film generally touches on many relevant matters related to the understanding of contemporary Brazilian urban life and cultural identity commenting on the concepts and discussion such as: the city of imagination; the city as a product of a certain cultural uneasiness in relation to current concerns about identity and its confusing relationship to time and space; the city as embodying the notion of an entire country imagery; and finally, the city combining two opposing poles: the city as a civilized and modern space and the city as a traditional and primitive space.

Key words: myth, urban and cultural identity, cinematic city, Rio de Janeiro.

Author Biography

Maria Helena Braga e Vaz da Costa, Departamento de Artes / Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

Professora Associada II (DE) do Departamento de Artes da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Produtividade em Pesquisa do CNPq, coordenadora do Grupo de Pesquisa Linguagens da Cena: Imagem, Cultura e Representação, e professora permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia da UFRN.

Downloads

Published

2013-03-11

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2013): September/December

Section

Articles

License

I grant the journal Fronteiras - estudos midiáticos the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.

I also agree that the manuscript will be submitted according to the journal’s publication rules described above.