The Movies Central Station (1998) and City of God (2002) and the Popular Culture in Brazil

The Movies Central Station (1998) and City of God (2002) and the Popular Culture in Brazil

 

Introduction

The film is a masterpiece tackling the most controversial beliefs regarding life and reality (or even abstract thoughts). Truly, this makes the film even more compelling. It presented claims and arguments that question the grounds of man’s existence as well as the possibilities of a multi-dimensional world. It wittingly disrupted the distinction between fact and fantasy as the movie transcended the audience to cross socially and culturally defined beliefs. The movie lures the viewers to think outside the confined notions of reality and existence by illustrating possible impossibilities.

Even though film do not have an interactive audience in terms of acting as compared to theatre (2001), it could be said that there are billions of people who watch films. They find their personalities in the portrayals of the characters and relate their life experiences to the plot of the particular movies. Also, they empathize and sympathize with the fate of the characters. Viewers delight when the characters in which they can associate themselves with are in good condition after a series of hardships and troubles. They are distressed when the character they adore dies or loses the fight ( 1990). These are among the several reasons on why viewers who see the influences behind and surrounding filmmakers can more clearly and fully understand why films are presented in such ways.

In this epoch of globalisation and modern technology, it is apparent that the need of the mainstream film audience is constantly changing and demanding. The viewers are no longer constrained with what they see on the screen but they also possess enough knowledge to comprehend and even argue with the messages that the medium provide. As the world develops, the processes inherent to humans also change. Movie viewing and its related processes are not left off. Thus, today’s viewers already know what makes a good or bad film, or ‘smart’ or ‘dull’ film basing on their predetermined set of standards and guided with their own knowledge on what constitutes a great cinematographic masterpiece.

This paper discusses how the directors of the films City of God (2002) and Central Station (1998) portrayed popular culture under globalisation perspective. Also, it aims to identify any remaining memory of Cinema Novo – a movement among Brazilian filmmakers in the second half of the 20th century and guided with the principle “a camera in the hand and an idea in the head”.

 

City of God (Cidade de Deus): Brief Facts

 

- Fight and you’ll never survive…

Run and you’ll never escape.

 

City of God is a story of place, Cidade de Deus, a poor housing project started in the 60′s that became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro by the beginning of the 80′s. The story was related by Buscapé () yet he is not the real protagonist of the film. He is not the one who makes the story moves on. He is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the main chain of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story but it is also through his perspective of life that we understand the humanity of a world apparently condemned to endless violence (2002). The film was directed by Fernando Meirelles.

 

Central Station (Central do Brasil): Brief Facts

                                                            – He was looking for the father he never knew.

She was looking for a second chance.

 

            This film is about a poignant journey of a former school teacher – Dora (), who make her living through writing letters for illiterate people, and a young boy – Josué (), whose mother has just died, in search for the father he never knew. The film’s title was derived from its local, the main train station, Central do Brasil. It is a road film shot in Rio de Janeiro and the sertão of northeast Brazil (2005). The film was directed by Walter Salles.

 

Both films were selected to represent Brazil in the Academy Award Best Foreign Film category ( 2005). The worldwide exposures of these films in several international film festivals brought home sweet laurels for the country. In other areas where these films gained prominence, the lasting effect is plain and absolute. It could be said that these films are perfect illustrations of the real occurrences that are hidden in the middle of impoverish areas. The exposition of the reality is seen on the eyes of an artist and for the sake of art. However, the symbolic messages being relayed by such films bring awareness on what is really happening in the popular culture of people in the epoch of globalisation particularly in Brazil.

 

Globalisation

Globalisation in its literal sense is a social change, an increase in connections among societies and their elements due to, among others, the explosive evolution of transport and communication technologies ( 1996). The term is applied to many social, cultural, commercial and economic activities. Depending on the context it can mean, it can be: (a) closer contact between different parts of the world (globalisation of the world, global village), with increasing possibilities of personal exchange and mutual understanding between “world citizens”, (b) or (economic globalisation), free trade and increasing relations among members of an industry in different parts of the world (2000).

Globalisation technique in film analysis is the application of the concepts related to globalisation. This technique is general in scope and offers an extensive range of application. Thus, film critics must determine the extent of application of the concepts of globalisation in connection to the content and interpretation of film’s real meaning. Modern film critics today ideally use globalisation approach to persuade viewers of different origins to watch a specified movie. The universal applicability of the film’s theme is the basic element of analysis.

Popular Culture in City of God and Central Station

Generally, film is a medium of a “broader global patterns and frameworks, especially the communication industry as an integrated interacting whole” (1997). It provides a giant mirror that serves as a reflection of the values, the half-truths, and the ideals of the society and its people (Whetmore, 1997). Universal emotions such as fear, love, disappointment, etc. have been experienced by people are shown in films – yet artistically presented. It could be a total ruin, complete love, paralyzing fear, or savage violence. Through film, it blows up these emotions until they become “larger than life” ( 1997). Because of film’s popularity and universality, many people use films as an agent of communication, education, learning, and entertainment. The feeling of audience and resemblance of existence is the basic element of cinema without which there is no art of filmmaking. The complex, artistic whole and elements are facilitated by a number of linkages with the artistic cultural experiences of the society (1994). Film is an externalization of what is real in life. As stated earlier, people relate and learn from it. It is a medium of entertainment, communication, and instruction. Also, viewers resort to movies as means of diversion and amusement.

On the other hand, film is used as a means of symbolic exposition of the ill-troubles of the society. In the films City of God and Central Station, the manifestation of societal problems and consequences that are abounded were shown together with their effects in the lives of people – direct or indirect. The makers of these films showed the popular culture of Brazilian people and how do they cope up and deal with such.

The debate on the nature of the popular already pacified over the decades. This is due to the emerging conventions in filmmaking and its whole surrounding industry. The introduction of innovative mechanisms not only on the theoretical applications but also to the practices paved way to more development in the worldwide cinema. In Brazil, according to  (1995) the idea of popular cinema was introduced in the early 60s and was resuscitated in 1974 by Nelson Pereira dos Santos’s “Manifesto for a Popular Cinema”. This was written to come with the release of his Amuleto de Ogum. The manifesto promotes the affirmation and defence of Brazilian popular culture through cinema. The popular culture in Brazilian cinema is defined as the spontaneous cultural expression of people ( 1995). This popular culture is seen on the vast marginalized majority of the Brazilian population. As mentioned by dos Santos, there is natural importance to celebrate this culture because “it is different from other superficial, elitist cultural forms that follow antiquated, colonized models”.

In City of God, the popular culture was expressed to defend popular political ideas. As to this case, the political convention often appears sporadically, as mere consumer objects isolated from their cultural, social, and filmic environment. There are many features in the plot that becomes clear only when discerned across a large body of ideas. City of God highlights the diversity and richness of illuminated areas like the image of Brazil as exposed by Hollywood films. It is a fact that Brazil is a prolongation of the west, and Brazilian cinema is traces its roots in western culture ( 1995). The cinema in Brazil witnesses and describes many national vicissitudes. Thus, the director of the film City of God portrayed popular culture as a part of history and national identity.

In the period of globalisation, the history and national identity are merged with foreign attributes. Due to the intervention of various factors and forces, the original features of a certain culture are mixed up with some elements of a foreign culture. In City of God, the director showed the relationship of popular culture and globalisation in the encounters present throughout the film’s narrative. If taken part by part, there are numerous instances that depict how the world and its people cope up with the challenges of staying alive. In terms of national identity, City of God is good for anything for it tells the story of the hidden reality and helps people to finally take a look at “God’s” town, to those who live in the midst of violence and on the edge of the law. And so, people can look at themselves: Brazilians… the outlaws (  2002).

Conversely, the director of Central Station presented popular culture in a manner that is not limited in Brazil alone. According to its director Walter Salles, it depicts how industrialization created a huge wave of internal migration that, in turn, brought chaos to the cities, unprepared to accommodate so many new arrivals (). He added that “Central do Brasil” aims to talk about this country searching for its own roots. In the perspective of globalisation, Central Station was a struggle to discover, rediscover, and protect the own heritage of Brazil. Although some migrant principles, practices and individuals are affecting the established history, it is apt that the Brazilian community must protect its national identity. Similar to City of God, it is also a quest of history and identity – both on self and national aspects. According to  (1999), “You not only will be moved, but will realized that there is a different Rio, that we always are shown as glittering with carnivals and not the poverty and squalor of some of its regions.” The film brings new understanding to the human race and culture.

The processes and practices of globalisation truly affect the recent lives of people. With this belief, Central Station and City of God are presented using the idea of semiotics in globalised form. Thus, both films illustrate Brazilian popular culture depending on the sensibilities of the viewers. Interestingly, Central Station and City of God are comparatively good films for they brought gratification to viewers, artistic in their own sense, mentally and socially challenging, commercially viable, and engaging to the known standards of film production. The viewers differ in taste and perception of what is a good or bad film. What is a good film? A clear purpose, good script, unity of elements and technical presentation, commercial viability, and entertainment value constitutes a good film. The presence of a purpose in creating a certain film is the most basic consideration that a filmmaker must bear in mind. What is his/her intent – to inform, entertain, earn, etc.? With the identification of the specific intention, the filmmaker will have a clearer visualisation of the next steps to complete the entire process. A well-written, researched, and prepared script equates to a good story and theme. The universality of the theme may serve as a unifying agent in a wide array of viewers. To have a satisfactory crafted film, there is the presence of unity in terms of its elements and technical superficialities or presentation. Since filmmaking is not just an art but also a form of business, it must be commercially viable and profitable. Lastly, whatever the intent is, the entertainment value of the film must be highly sustainable. As an example, the classic Steven Spielberg’s E.T. (Extra Terrestrial) released in 1982 is considered a good film due to the fact that it convened the standards identified above.

The portrayal of the directors of what are a mind-boggling challenge. In this aspect, mass culture is trying to copy the cultural forms of advanced capitalist nations. Also, popular culture as the culture of the oppressed, subaltern classes that creates an imaginary and ideal future is under obstruction. Historically, the Brazilian popular film has provided a space for the expression of the cultural values of Brazil’s lower classes (2004). In both films, City of God and Central Station, the distinct identity of the Brazilian environment is the viewpoint of popular experiences that provide access to different forms of cultural expression, rather than as simply mass manipulation. The cultures of the marginalized people are categorically defined in different ways yet intercede into one adjacent idea – coping up. Poverty is the common denominator that dictates the people’s way of life. For survival is very important, the individual desire to get even with the harshness of living in the shanty area (in City of God) and the unknown (in Central Station) is manifested in the people’s own ways of doing things. On anthropological point of view, focusing on the way film uses cultural practices that exist prior to or outside the mass media is palpable. The thought of national identity in films links with the past and with a different kind of popular culture. In terms of national identity,  (2004) has argued that Brazilians are relatively sure of what they are not, but struggle to agree on a definition of what they are.  has said that this notion of the ‘popular’ arose as a consequence of the emergence of the culture industry and a market of symbolic national goods in Brazil since 1970s. Since then, the ‘popular’ in Brazil has ceased to be first and foremost linked to the traditional cultural forms of the popular classes or the project of popular liberation, but instead to the products of the culture industry (1988 , 2004).

The exposition of the directors in relation to popular culture and globalisation was still connected with the Cinema Novo movement. Cinema Novo shares with Soviet film in the 1920s, Italian Neo-Realism, and the French nouvelle vague, a penchant for theorizing its own cinematic practice (1995). Relating this three film movements to Cinema Novo, they represent more than a simple parallel and constitute concrete historical influences as evidenced in frequent allusions by the Brazilian directors. Furthermore, the unusually close link between theory and practice in Brazil derives as well from a number of other convergent factors like the generally abstract and theoretical bent of intellectuals in Latin countries.

Guided with the principle “a camera in the hand and an idea in the head”, both films are the product of a keen observation of an artist eyes as well as idea in the head then eventually recorded in a camera. City of God and Central Station presents facts, realities, and other existing incidences about Brazil and its people in general. These things alone can explain the connection of Cinema Novo and its memory.

Moreover, people in different habitat of meanings perceive a variety of implication in the same creative work and their perceptions of meaning tend to change as the time passes by – may it be in terms of symptomatic meanings or ideology (explicit or implicit) ( 1999). These meanings are to some extent relative, but a film sets parameters to interpretations of such, and some of these interpretations are vulnerable by members of the audience. Meanwhile, film analysis and criticism plays one principal purpose – to evaluate the overall quality of a particular film. In today’s contemporary standards, it could be theorised that the presence of award-giving institutions are helpful to viewers and film related people especially in determining the aspects that needs further development and the parts that need to be maintained. Award-giving bodies qualify or can also intensify the views of more legitimate and credible film critics. Like all mass media, film has two component parts that serve as basis in film analysis – the form and the content (1997). These alone may determine how directors may portray the idea they want to incorporate in their films (like popular culture).

All in all, the concept of film and its audience is very essential to every individual that consider film as a portrayal of reality. However, today’s film industry is facing several great challenges that are headed for radical transformation (1998). Like the film itself, the industry and its people will undergo further dimensions in terms of technological approaches and developments. The Brazilian cinema is one of the most active and widely respected in Latin America. It may constantly continue its intelligent and innovative means of illuminating popular culture amidst the era of globalisation and international cooperation with traces of the memory of Cinema Novo that remains to be one of the biggest leaps in the country’s film history.

 

 

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