João César Monteiro

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Monteiro and the second or paternal family name is Santos.
João César Monteiro
Born(1939-02-02)2 February 1939
Figueira da Foz, Portugal
Died3 February 2003(2003-02-03) (aged 64)
Lisbon, Portugal
Alma materLondon Film School
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter, actor, writer
Years active1969-2003
AwardsSilver Lion for Recordações da Casa Amarela (1989)

João César Monteiro Santos (2 February 1939 – 3 February 2003) was a Portuguese film director, actor, writer and film critic. He is known for writing and directing films such as Recollections of the Yellow House (1989), God's Comedy (1995) and As Bodas de Deus (1999)

Life and career

João César Monteiro was born into a family with anti-fascist[1] and anti-clerical ideals. His family moved to Lisbon when Monteiro was 15 years old to enable him to continue his studies. In 1963, with a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Monteiro traveled to Great Britain to study at the London Film School (known then as the London School of Film Technique). In 1965 in Portugal, he began work on his first film, Quem Espera por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço (Who Waits for the Deceased's Shoes Dies Barefoot), which would not be finished for five years due to financial problems. At the same time, he made the short documentary "Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen", about the Portuguese poet. Monteiro also wrote film criticism for periodicals like Imagem, Diário de Lisboa and O Século.

His first feature film was Fragmentos de um Filme Esmola: A Sagrada Família (1972). In 1982 he made Silvestre an adaptation of traditional Portuguese folk stories. Silvestre was shown at the Venice Film Festival and was an important step in his international recognition. À Flor do Mar (1986), featuring Laura Morante, was shown at the Salsomaggiore Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Monteiro returned to the Venice Film Festival in 1989 with Recordações da Casa Amarela (Silver Lion), a film that marked the introduction of the character João de Deus. In 1992, he made O Último Mergulho, featuring Fabienne Babe.

A Comédia de Deus (Venice Film Festival, 1995), As Bodas de Deus (1999 Cannes Film Festival),[2] Branca de Neve (Venice Film Festival, 2000) and Vai~E~Vem (Cannes Film Festival, 2003) were his last works. Branca de Neve (Snow White) was highly controversial because much of the film consists of a black screen, although a densely composed audio track plays throughout.

Style

One of the most controversial Portuguese filmmakers of his generation, João César Monteiro marked his presence in cinema with unclassifiable and polemic films made with idiosyncratic and somewhat experimental aesthetics, and influenced by his work as a film critic and a poet. In some of his last films, he played a recurrent protagonist, João de Deus, a remarkably articulated and over-sexualized character whose customary attitudes involved spontaneous streaks of hedonism, scandal and satire.

Although a substantial portion of his work was received with perplexity and outrage by the average movie-going audience, he has been recognized by Portuguese and international critics and academicians as one of the most important Portuguese directors, along with Manoel de Oliveira.

Filmography

Feature films

Year English Title Original Title Notes
1972 Fragments of an Alms-Film Fragmentos de um Filme-Esmola: A Sagrada Família
1975 What Shall I Do With This Sword? Que Farei eu com Esta Espada?
1978 Trails Veredas
1981 Silvestre
1986 Hovering Over the Water À Flor do Mar Also actor
1989 Recollections of the Yellow House Recordações da Casa Amarela
1992 The Last Dive O Último Mergulho
1995 God's Comedy A Comédia de Deus Also actor
1997 The Hips of J.W. Le Bassin de J.W.
1999 The Spousals of God As Bodas de Deus
2000 Snow White Branca de Neve
2003 Come and Go Vai e Vem Also actor

Short films

Year English Title Original Title Notes
1970 He Goes Long Barefoot That Waits For Dead Men’s Shoes Quem Espera por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço
1978 The Two Soldiers Os Dois Soldados
1979 The Love of the Three Pomegranates O Amor das Três Romãs
The Mother A Mãe: O Rico e o Pobre
1990 End of Conservation Conserva Acabada Also actor
1995 Lettera amorosa
Bestiary, or the Parade of Orpheus O Bestiário ou o Cortejo de Orfeu
1996 A Walk with Johnny Guitar Passeio com Johnny Guitar

Documentary

Only actor

  • Amor de Perdição by Manoel de Oliveira (1979)
  • A Estrangeira by João Mário Grilo (1983)
  • Doc's Kingdom by Robert Kramer (1987)
  • Relação Fiel e Verdadeira by Margarida Gil (1989)
  • Paroles by Anne Benhaïem (1992)
  • Rosa Negra by Margarida Gil (1992)
  • La commedia di Dio by João César Monteiro (1995)
  • Le Bassin de J.W. by João César Monteiro (1997)
  • As Bodas de Deus by João César Monteiro (1999)
  • Vai~E~Vem by João César Monteiro (2003)

Books

  • Corpo Submerso (1959)
  • Morituri te Salutant (1974)
  • Le Bassin de John Wayne (1998)
  • As Bodas de Deus (1998)
  • Uma Semana Noutra Cidade (1999)

See also

References

  1. ^ Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. (2007). 501 Movie Directors. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 381. ISBN 9781844035731. OCLC 1347156402.
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: As Bodas de Deus". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2009-10-08.

Further reading

  • (in Portuguese) O Cais do Olhar by José de Matos-Cruz, Portuguese Cinematheque, 1999
  • Paulo Filipe Monteiro, "An Art in the Rough: The Cinema of João César Monteiro" in Impure Cinema by Lucia Nagib and Anne Jerslev. London and New York: I.B.Tauris, 2014
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joao_Cesar_Monteiro