Carlos Reichenbach's São Paulo: images of the city in Movie Dementia (1987)

• Grant number: 24/05995-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Artur Simões Rozestraten
• Grantee: Giulia Montone
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The research aims to study the imaginary of the city of São Paulo through the work of filmmaker Carlos Reichenbach (1945-2012), by analyzing Movie Dementia (1987). Technical achievements such as the press, photography, the phonograph and radio highlighted the limitations of representing space through drawings and photographs, which were unable to convey the spatial and temporal characteristics of architectural experience (ZEVI, 1996). The inclusion of this research in the line of Representations of Architecture and Urbanism is due to the need to investigate other resources for representing architecture and urban spaces (beyond those that are pragmatic, consolidated and integrated into their production), such as cinema/audiovisual. Discussing the images that Carlos Reichenbach proposes for São Paulo is an attempt to reconstruct part of São Paulo's collective memory and to understand the different temporal strata that make up these urban imaginaries. The search for images of the capital in Reichenbach's cinema presupposes going through his entire oeuvre, since the director is known for the leading role he gives to cities in his films. To this end, the research will use an indicial approach and an experimental methodology, starting from the title indicated, but considering incursions into the director's other productions, in search of image associations in his films. The collection and study of images of architecture and urban spaces in cinema is necessary due to the popularity of this means of representation, making it fundamental for the dissemination of architectural culture and the construction of collective urban imaginaries, justifying the relevance of the work to the field of Architecture and Urbanism.