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Cinema Novo, a film genre in Brazil from the early 1960's, was heavily influenced by the film genres of Italian Neo-realism andFrench New Wave. The Brazilian film makers took the French and Italian ideas of shooting what life was like in the streets, dealt with the subject of the poor and the lives of regular people(2).These film makers alsoused the idea of casting people off the streets to play significant parts, instead of traditional actors to encourage a sense of believability and reality to their films (1). Even thought they barrowed many of these ideals, the Brazilian film makers produced something uniquely Brazilian, something that could had never been seen before, especially to western audiences. There were no set rules for shooting in Cinema Novo; therefore, there is no classic definition for a Cinema Novo film; as Johnson and Stam call Cinema Novo "freedom of invention, freedom of expression." Many of the films are characterized by similar things: their incredibly low budgets for production, the extreme anti-western and especially anti-american political views. They were also keen on illustrating their ideals of anti-consumerism, of the lack of discourse amongst their peers as bluntly and graphically as possible. There are more than a few Cinema Novo films that deal with ignorance on the part of the colonized and on the part of the colonizers, sexuality and the human body, and depictions of literal human cannibalism. There was a general lack of commercial or political appeal or support both inside and outside of Brazil. Cinema Novo, soon fell from favor as the more widely popular and cheaper American films began to stock Brazilian theatres. And finally after the early 1980's, so very few Cinema Novo films were made that the movement was deemed over. Regardless of its position to be as nationalistic as possible, Cinema Novo has had a major influence on cinema that is still felt throughout even today. For example, the Cinema Novo film Black God, White Devil by Glauber Rocha heavily influenced Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; which, in turn, has influenced other directors like Quentin Tarantino.
Cinema Novo's Relation to The Holy Mountain
Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain relates to some of the basic canons of Cinema Novo; the film was created in the streets of Mexico, using the poor people of the streets performing as extras. Jodorowsky also is beholden to Cinema Novo for his graphic images, especially the surreal images representing death, mutilation and blunt scenes depicting the human. The film also deals with the issues expressed by the Counter-Culture movement of protesting and the religious issues of the poor in Central and South America although in a pretty irreverent manner.
One theme in the film that is quite apparent is that Jodorowsky's disrespect of the tourist mentality; of westerner, especially Americans, and of the typical cinema audience. Johnson and Stam give a similar definition to Cinema Novo filmmakers saying that "[t]hey avoided both the tourist and picturesque attitudes"(4). As we watch the Holy Mountain and, especially the rape scene of the "American" tourist, we are forced to recognize that we, as audience members, can no longer passively let the images glide before us but become active participants so that we can attempt to understand the message Jodorowsky is trying to tell us.
Differences between Jodorowsky and Cinema Novo
Jodorowsky is not strictly beholden to Cinema Novo in that he is not fighting for the rights of the colonized Mexicans, nor is he intent on showing a truly Mexican style of film making. Jodorowsky wants to protray the universal religious struggle of mankind. He is not very interested in the political and cinematic fight to show a true representation of Mexican, Chilian or frankly anyone's life.
The Conquest of Mexico
One such instance where Jodorowsky borrows from Cinema Novo is during the scene where the Aztec Horned Lizards are invaded by the European Toads.Jodorowsky makes allusions to Cinema Novo in this scene specifically the carnival aspect of the performance and the political aspects of demonstrating the colonized natives being destroyed by the colonizers.He shows us,irreverently with amphibians and lizards, how the Europeans destroyed the peaceful lives of the natives living in Central and South America. The scene ends with the culture, as represented by the Aztec pyramids, exploding into nothingness.
* The writing could use a going-over
* Some more attention, maybe, to Novo's politically-motivated interest in the grotesque and surreal. The Conquest of Mexico sequence could be of interest there
* Also seems as though the theme of the rogue traveler is big in Novo (_Bye Bye Brazil_, _Macunaima_, _Black God_)--maybe that's another little influence
* Maybe some differences?
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Comments (1)
Sean Desilets said
at 11:41 pm on Nov 11, 2009
* The writing could use a going-over
* Some more attention, maybe, to Novo's politically-motivated interest in the grotesque and surreal. The Conquest of Mexico sequence could be of interest there
* Also seems as though the theme of the rogue traveler is big in Novo (_Bye Bye Brazil_, _Macunaima_, _Black God_)--maybe that's another little influence
* Maybe some differences?
You don't have permission to comment on this page.