The performance of the "natural actor" in Brazilian cinema: contemporary experiences and analysis parameters

• Grant number: 09/11673-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2009
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal researcher: Henri Pierre Arraes de Alencar Gervaiseau
• Grantee: Clara Leonel Ramos
• Home Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project intends to, starting from the analysis of the films "Jogo de Cena" (Eduardo Coutinho, 2007), "Juízo" (Maria Augusta Ramos, 2007), "Serras da Desordem" (Andréa Tonacci, 2008) e "Filmefobia" (Kiko Goifman, 2008), investigate the performance of real people in documentary and in films that are in the borderline between documentary and fiction fields, identifying its various uses in contemporary Brazilian cinema and establishing parameters for the critical analysis of the performance of what Sergio Santeiro called the "natural actor". Our initial hypothesis is that there are different levels of tension between the wish of the "natural actor" to represent the character he created for himself and his capability of doing it, which influences the success of the whole mise-en-scène.