Das primeiras experiências ao fenômeno Zé do Caixão: um estudo sobre o modo de produção e a recepção dos filmes de José Mojica Marins entre 1953 e 1967

Author(s)

Daniela Pinto Senador

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA/SBD)
• Defense date: 2008-04-08

Examining board members

Rubens Luis Ribeiro Machado Junior; Marcos Francisco Napolitano de Eugênio; Eduardo Victorio Morettin

• Advisor: Rubens Luis Ribeiro Machado Junior

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze José Mojica Marins excursion into cinema, as well as the process by which the director and his character Zé do Caixão have become culturally relevant through strong media promotion. In order to do so, we focus on the study of the mode of production and the reception of the authors four feature movies A Sina do Aventureiro (Adventurers Fate, 1959), Meu Destino em Tuas Mãos (My Destiny in Your Hands, 1963), À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma (At Midnight Ill Take Your Soul, 1964) and Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver (Tonight Ill Enter Your Corpse, 1967) , not forgetting Reino Sangrento (Bloody Kingdom), made when he was still an adolescent, and his unfinished movie Sentença de Deus (Gods Sentence). By reconstructing Mojicas mode of production, we try to understand how the moviemaker is affiliated with the tradition of São Paulos amateur cinema. In this sense, his trajectory can also be seen as a metonymy of the economic obstacles that mark the cinematographic activity in Brazil. Additionally, we approach the issue of reception by presenting production data and the analysis of censorship, as well as the commercialization and release of the films, based on information regarding the role played by press media especially reviewers, columnists, journalists and publicists under a chronological perspective. Thus, we are able to comprehend all the stages involved in the process of making the respective movies, and also the symbiotic relationship established between the director and the media, which has become crucial for the consolidation of both creator and creature as cultural entities. (AU)