Preamble Narratives and Social Memory - Universidade do Minho

The Subject-Matter of Audiovisual Historical Fiction in Portugal (1909-2010)Eduardo Cintra Torres & Catarina Duff BurnaySilent cinema (1909- 1931)Cinema began in Portugal as early as 1896, but only in 1909 was the first fictionalfilm produced. Industry was small and with a small output: only 108 fictional productionsfrom 1909 to 1931, independently of footage, or an average of 4.7 films per year. Qualityas perceived by critics and public was rarely attained. Only a handful of silent films wereacclaimed at the time and mentioned for their qualities by critics (Nobre: s.d; Pina: 1978).The same can be said of the Portuguese sound cinema during the period covered in thisresearch. In 1959, an author could title chapters of his book about cinema and public inPortugal with bitter eloquence: “Absolute zero”, “Zero in characters”, “Zero in landscape”, “Zeroin popularity”, “Zero in taste”, “Zero in documentary” and “Zero in economics” (Gama, 1959).The silent fictional cinema era corresponded roughly to the First Republic of1910-1926. Contrary to the press, cinema, especially fictional, was not a political toolof propaganda. The State did not commit itself to fund or influence cinema; productionwas the result of private initiative, individual or business, normally incipient. Some filmswere connected to theatre, either as interludes during performances, as adaptations ofsuccessful plays or as vehicles for popular actors. Eighteen films of historical backgroundrepresent 17% of the total fictional silent cinema. Of those, 15, or 88%, are adaptations ofliterary works, novels, short stories or plays.The adaptations concentrate around very popular works: Júlio Dinis, Camilo CasteloBranco and Manuel Pinheiro Chagas had two works each adapted; Eça de Queirós, JúlioDantas, Manuel Maria Rodrigues, Eduardo de Noronha, João Reis Gomes, Gervásio Lobato,and the Romanceiro [collection of romances] had one each.The large majority of historically based fiction is situated in the 19 th century (10) andin the 18 th century (3). One film can be situated in either the 18 th or the 19 th century. TheMiddle Ages originated three films and the 16 th century originated the only film mentioningthe Portuguese outside the territory, in this case representing a battle against the Moors inMorocco. It was a cinema segment intended as a background to a play, thus providing thebattle action difficult to stage.Portuguese silent cinema showed no vocation to represent political life, except whenit implied action, as in the two adaptations of the life and deeds of José do Telhado, aPortuguese Robin Hood involved in politics and civil war in the first half of the 19 th century.One comedy had an anticlerical tone, echoing the Republic times. Most historical fictionrepresented urban or rural social life. Of the eighteen films of the sample, 11 can be characterisedas costume drama and the other seven as historical drama. The main themes, ambienceor script background were rural life (7 films), urban life (3), crime, aristocratic life andMiddle Ages biography (2 each), war against the Moors and Magical Middle Ages (1 each).Sound cinema (1931-1957)Between 1931 and 1957, only 102 fiction sound films were produced in Portugal ordirected by Portuguese directors, an average of 3,8 per year. Of those, 24 had a historicalbackground (24%). There was a small increase from silent cinema in the use of past orNarratives and social memory: theoretical and methodological approaches194