Jahsira Williams, 2/25 Cinema Novo by Eryk Roucha

It’s a quite romantic idea that the son carries on the ideas brought forth by his father and his collaborators. Reflecting on what was said towards the end of the film, Cinema Novo was never a movement, but an idea that will live forever, to paraphrase.

This film itself is interesting as it is Cinema Novo redux of the productions of the original Cinema Novo group of the 1960s and 1970s. The images they were able to produce make so much sense situated as a descendant of Italian neorealism and a revolutionary attempt at anti imperialism/colonialism. It’s so interesting though– this group of middle class white men had the wherewithal to be class or even race conscious, but they still fell short on their imagination of the Brazilian woman. They very much seem enthralled with the idea of woman-ness because of another that stuck out to me, which I will also paraphrase: “a loved woman and a revolution are the same.” 

Maybe this is a flaw of with Eryk’s interpretation of Cinema Novo ideas, and not with the films themselves. I think the images of naked women can be respectful, beautiful, and/or artistic but it threw me off, especially after Sara Gomez’s work where women have so much voice and agency, regardless of their physical beauty.