João César Monteiro

João César Monteiro ( born February 2, 1939 in Figueira da Foz, † February 3, 2003 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and actor of the Cinema Novo.

Life and work

João César Monteiro was already at the age of 15 years to Lisbon. He attended the private school Colégio Moderno ( Mário Soares ), before dropping. He took part in various activities, and lived for a time in Paris. In 1960 he met Alberto Seixas Santos know and turned to the cinema and the movement of the film clubs to. He was a film critic for the newspaper Diário de Notícias and for the movie magazine Cinéfilo. In 1961 he was assistant director at O Milionario ( The Millionaire ) by Perdigão Queiroga, and changed so that on the active side of the cinema. In 1963 he received a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation and completed a film studies at the London School of Film Technique.

1965 Monteiro began to shoot his first film he finished five years later. He became friends with Paulo Rocha (Os Verdes Anos ) and especially Fernando Lopes ( Belarmino ) that two of the main protagonists of the Cinema Novo. He remained formally outside the Novo Cinema, and also the collective Centro Português de Cinema, he joined only after long discussions. After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, he turned only a kind of political underground film with Que Farei eu com esta espada? ( What do I do with this sword, in 1975? ): He shows mass demonstrations and interviews with workers who are against NATO, in addition he shows American warships and U.S. soldiers in Lisbon. The " sword " of democracy taught Monteiro symbolically against the massive, threatening shown NATO presence, and let it Don Afonso Henriques ( the first king of Portugal ), Nosferatu and a NATO squadron occur together in the Tagus.

Then Monteiro hit a one way ethnographic films like veredas (paths, with Margarida Gil ) or Silvestre (Wild, with Maria de Medeiros ), which until now were widely acclaimed by critics. Finally, he found to his sarcastic and socially critical work that brought him international awards and recognition, but also public criticism. The main character is usually embodied by himself João de Deus. But on the sea (À Flor do Mar, 1986), he could also surprise: turned on the Algarve coast with Laura Morante and Georges Claisse in the lead roles, this was a film full of melancholy and poetry, with warm paintings and fragile characters.

Larger international successes came in 1989, when Monteiro for memories of the yellow house ( Recordações da Casa Amarela ) won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. For A Divine Comedy (A Comédia de Deus ) in 1995 he was nominated for the Golden Lion at the same location where it won the Grand Jury Prize. For Passeio com Johnny Guitar ( walk with Johnny Guitar ) he was a year later nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

João César Monteiro was for a time married to the director and actress Margarida Gil, with whom he also worked. Their son, João Pedro Monteiro Gil ( born 1984 ) has worked as an intern at films of the mother and the father. On 3 February 2003 Monteiro succumbed to cancer.

Reception

As Monteiro's " most popular " film like memories of the yellow house apply, but his films have never experienced greater popularity among the public. Some of his films sparked scandals. In his version of the Divine Comedy (A Comédia de Deus ) he played - as in many of his films - the main role. The protagonist was a loner who in his spare time collected pubic hair of women. As the film progresses, he built up a relationship with an underage girl.

A bust- it came with Branca de Neve ( Snow White ): in Monteiro's polemical film, after Snow White story by Robert Walser, while 60 of the 75 minutes of video, only a black screen to see, and only the performers' voices are heard, the tell story. At the premiere in 2000 he responded to critical questions of various television reporter for the cameras, " the Portuguese audience should be f *****! ". The set went down in the Portuguese film history. He brought Monteiro not have any special popularity and increased the onset of public debate on funding for film productions without any prospect of significant public response.

João César Monteiro was willful and was with his non-conformist humor as the enfant terrible of the Portuguese film. His works were highly recognized by critics and many film makers. So many filmmakers expressed in the controversial premiere of Snow in contrast to the wide audience appreciative about Manoel de Oliveira.

Filmography

• Fragmentos de um Movies Esmola (A Sagrada Família ) ( 1972)
• Veredas (1978 )
• Silvestre (1982 )
• À Flor do Mar ( 1986)
• Da Casa Amarela Recordações (1989 )
• O Último Mergulho (1992 )
• A Comédia de Deus (1995 )
• Le Bassin de John Wayne (1997)
• As Bodas de Deus (1999)
• Branca de Neve (2000)
• Vai e Vem (2003)

• Quem Espera por Sapatos de defunto Descalço Morre (1971 )
• Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1972 )
• Amor de Mãe (1975 )
• O Amor the Três Romãs (1979 )
• O Rico eo Pobre (1979 )
• O Bestiario (1995 )
• Lettera Amorosa (1995 )
• Passeio com Johnny Guitar (1995 )

• Quem Espera por Sapatos de defunto Descalço Morre (1971 )
• O Amor the Três Romãs (1979 )
• À Flor do Mar ( 1986)

• Amor de Perdição, Manoel de Oliveira ( 1979)
• A Estrangeira, João Mário Grilo (1983 )
• À Flor do Mar ( 1986)
• Doc's Kingdom, by Robert Kramer ( 1987)
• Relação Fiel e Verdadeira, Margarida Gil (1989 )
• Da Casa Amarela Recordações (1989 )
• Conserva Acabada (1990 )
• Paroles, by Anne BENHAIEM (1992 )
• Rosa Negra, Margarida Gil (1992 )
• Passeio com Johnny Guitar (1995 )
• Lettera Amorosa (1995 )
• O Bestiario ou o Cortejo de Orpheu (1995 )
• A Comédia de Deus (1995 )
• Le Bassin de J. W. (1997)
• As Bodas de Deus (1999)
• Vai e Vem (2003)