“What is life? It is the beginning of death. What is death? It is the end of life! What is existence? It is the continuity of blood. What is blood? It is the reason to exist!” À Meia Noite Levarei Sua Alma [At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul] (José Mojica Marins, 1964)
Jun
6
Robert Englund – 1947
Josefel Zanatas, aka Coffin Joe, summoning you to your early grave. DP: Giorgio Attili.
[A] favourite horror movie villain for Robert Englund's birthday (1947).
– Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe), opening lines
In 1963, long before Freddy's got his claws, Brazil didn't have any horror films of its own. Then, José Mojica Marins woke up from uneasy dreams. He had seen himself being dragged across a cemetery by a dark figure, towards a grave with his name on it. Now wide awake in a pool of sweat, José became Josefel Zanatas – the true name of the godless undertaker from his dream.
Josefel, nicknamed Zé do Caixão, or Coffin Joe as he was rechristened for the English speaking world, would be Marins' alter ego in numerous movies and TV shows. His gnarly nails clawed their way past Brazil's censorship, dug themselves out of the pits of obscurity, and impaled themselves deep into this disciple's heart.
Brazil
Assalto ao Trem Pagador [Assault on the Pay Train] (Roberto Farias, 1962)
Feb
17
WH helicopter incident – 1974
The favelados-turned-train-robbers. DP: Amleto Daissé.
A heist on the date of the 1974 White House helicopter incident.
O 5º Poder [O Quinto Poder / The Fifth Power] (Alberto Pieralisi, 1962)
Jan
27
television
A woman sprawled out on the ground. A man tries to revive her while another reaches out in concern. DP: Özen Sermet.
Turn on your television on the day* in 1926 John Logie Baird demonstrated the first working TV.
An unknown foreign agent manipulates Brazil's radio en television antennas to emit subliminal messages to the oblivious population. Slowly, society descends into violent chaos.
O 5º Poder precedes Ray Nelson's story Eight O'Clock in the Morning by one, and John Carpenter's adaptation They Live by 26 years. But what's much more fascinating is this film's place in Brazilian history: right between Professor Baskarán's – hypnotist Carlos Pedregal – televised mass hypnosis experiments from 1958, and the violent coup of 1964.
In how far was the population primed for this revolt? And how much, are you?
* In reality this was on January 26, 1926.
A História do Olho [The Story of the Eye] (Ivan Cardoso, 1977)
Sep
10
leite
Simone (Claudia Ohana) about to dip her derrière in a bowl with milk. DP: Eduardo Viveiros.
“We were soldiers together. A long time ago. We were young, you know? Free from everything. We've been through a lot together, we were… friends.”A Queda [The Fall] (Ruy Guerra + Nelson Xavier, 1978)
Aug
3
Salatiel (Lima Duarte), a middle-aged balding man, in his undershirt at a dinner table. Working class poverty all around. DP: Edgar Moura.
Os Fuzis [The Guns] (Ruy Guerra, 1964)
Aug
2
A bearded man in white eats from a simple, hand-carved wooden bowl using his hand. In his tangled up hair are small, silver devotional medals. DP: Ricardo Aronovich.
O Bandido da Luz Vermelha [The Red Light Bandit] (Rogério Sganzerla, 1968)
Jul
1
prairie oyster
The bandit (Paulo Villaça) cracks a raw egg over his liquid breakfast while one of his female victims (Sonia Braga) is on the phone beside him. Her cigarette smokes itself and the kitchen table is packed with drugstore items. DPs: Peter Overbeck & Carlos Ebert.