1. This photograph by Alcir Lacerda
is from the late '60s.Copy !req
2. It shows the Boa Viagem Church square,
South side of Recife.Copy !req
3. This is the Boa Viagem Hotel,Copy !req
4. a landmarkCopy !req
5. until it was torn down in the 2000s.Copy !req
6. The Boa Viagem Hotel can be seen
in these images…Copy !req
7. With Janet Leigh
and her daughtersCopy !req
8. on a trip to Recife
in the early '60s.Copy !req
9. The square has changed a lot.Copy !req
10. In the '70s, my small family came
to live in this seaside area.Copy !req
11. About 250 meters from the beach.Copy !req
12. Right here.Copy !req
13. On what used to be mangrove.Copy !req
14. PART ONE
THE SETÚBAL APARTMENTCopy !req
15. Apartment 102.Copy !req
16. The Pioneiro building,Copy !req
17. Number 207Copy !req
18. on José Moreira Leal StreetCopy !req
19. in the neighborhood of Setúbal,
in Recife.Copy !req
20. The 1972 building
has only one floor.Copy !req
21. No stilts.Copy !req
22. The boxy type.Copy !req
23. The apartment's on the top floor,
to the back, away from the street,Copy !req
24. where it's quieter.Copy !req
25. The apartment
has three bedrooms,Copy !req
26. one en suite,Copy !req
27. a living room,Copy !req
28. a guest bathroom,Copy !req
29. and a kitchen/dining area.Copy !req
30. The apartment used to
have a maid's roomCopy !req
31. which my mother, Joselice,Copy !req
32. turned into a study
by knocking down a wall.Copy !req
33. Later, it became a room
for watching films.Copy !req
34. I was ten when we came
to live in this place,Copy !req
35. which my mother financed
through a public bank in 1979.Copy !req
36. This new house meant
a new beginning for my motherCopy !req
37. after her separation
from my father, Kleber.Copy !req
38. Joselice, my mother,
was a historian.Copy !req
39. She studied the abolitionists
Joaquim Nabuco and André RebouçasCopy !req
40. in 19th century Brazil.Copy !req
41. At the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation
where she worked,Copy !req
42. friends joked that she cheated
on Nabuco with Rebouças,Copy !req
43. whose framed portrait
she had on a wall at home.Copy !req
44. Joselice used to say that joke
packed a lot of Brazil in it.Copy !req
45. Years after her death,
I got this tapeCopy !req
46. from a colleague of hers at the
Joaquim Nabuco Foundation.Copy !req
47. One hell of a gift.Copy !req
48. It's an interview
aired on Globo TV in 1981Copy !req
49. in which she talks about
oral history.Copy !req
50. Joselice, tell us about how oral history
will shape your new research.Copy !req
51. Through oral history, we collect information
that's been left out of history.Copy !req
52. We seek to evaluate the subject's life—Copy !req
53. a part, shall we say,
somewhat autobiographical,Copy !req
54. then we move on to verifyCopy !req
55. and collect the data
from that person.Copy !req
56. It may seem like
I'm discussing methodology,Copy !req
57. but I'm talking about love.Copy !req
58. Today, when I remember my mother
and this apartment,Copy !req
59. I understand this place
was radically altered by her.Copy !req
60. Twice.Copy !req
61. The first time was
at the end of the '80sCopy !req
62. and I think there was a sense
of euphoria and uncertainty.Copy !req
63. That's me with my mother,
near our home,Copy !req
64. during the 1989 elections.Copy !req
65. We voted together
once more in 1994,Copy !req
66. one year before she died,
aged 54.Copy !req
67. When Joselice fell ill in 1992,Copy !req
68. I saw she had in this apartment
an extension of her own strength.Copy !req
69. And that's when Joselice
renovated this place a second time.Copy !req
70. It's as if the apartment
had turned into a house,Copy !req
71. as if it had undergone surgery—Copy !req
72. an aggressive but healing surgery.Copy !req
73. Joselice assigned to
my brother Múcio,Copy !req
74. at the time a 20-year-old
architecture student,Copy !req
75. the mission of changing our house.Copy !req
76. This was the first project
he ever designed.Copy !req
77. A fine piece of work, with at least
one youthful reference to Oscar Niemeyer.Copy !req
78. In the 2000s,
this place changed once more.Copy !req
79. Over all these years,
I learned how time changes places.Copy !req
80. What a great picture!Copy !req
81. Martin and Tomás,
right here.Copy !req
82. Here, Tomás!Copy !req
83. Wow, that's a good picture!Copy !req
84. Look.Copy !req
85. Lemme see.Copy !req
86. One way or another,
I lived in this place for 40 years.Copy !req
87. OK?Copy !req
88. Rolling.Copy !req
89. Cut!Copy !req
90. This apartment is also where
I began making films.Copy !req
91. I thought that was good!Copy !req
92. - Little less jumpy, huh?
- Yeah.Copy !req
93. I'm ready, Kleber.Copy !req
94. I must have made
between 10 and 13 films.Copy !req
95. The beach symbolizes paradise,
I think.Copy !req
96. The focus on this camera is
nonexistent, Kleber.Copy !req
97. Whenever you're ready.Copy !req
98. That's good.Copy !req
99. The rug's gone…Copy !req
100. It's been shot from every angle…Copy !req
101. In every room…Copy !req
102. Over…Copy !req
103. 20 years, I'd say.Copy !req
104. Some people would watch
these films and ask:Copy !req
105. "What's with that street,
in Setúbal, in that apartment?"Copy !req
106. Sidclay, wake up!Copy !req
107. It's where I lived.
That's the answer.Copy !req
108. Joselice encouraged me
to make my own filmsCopy !req
109. whichever way I could.Copy !req
110. It was our house—
it was right there.Copy !req
111. For posterity…Copy !req
112. Neighbors acted as extras.
They seemed to enjoy it, I think.Copy !req
113. Cut!Copy !req
114. We also shot in our
next door neighbor's apartment,Copy !req
115. It was good to turn the houseCopy !req
116. into a crowded, workshop
or studio.Copy !req
117. I had told Pedro Sotero
and Fabrício Tadeu,Copy !req
118. the cinematographers for
Neighboring Sounds,Copy !req
119. that I wanted to shoot the street
at night without any special lighting,Copy !req
120. which is a silly idea,
truth be told.Copy !req
121. They showed me it was doable,Copy !req
122. but when I saw the images,
I thought it best to light up the whole street.Copy !req
123. It's when you bring together the mundane
and some cinema look.Copy !req
124. Then it feels like a movie.Copy !req
125. Mariá, this is Sofia.Copy !req
126. - Sofia, Mariá.
- How are you, Sofia?Copy !req
127. Fine, thanks.Copy !req
128. Is there coffee, Mariá?Copy !req
129. - Yeah, I'm just finishing making some.
- I need some.Copy !req
130. Maeve came over for dinner once.Copy !req
131. You're so stuck up
with those glasses.Copy !req
132. Tryin' to act smarter.Copy !req
133. I thought it was funny
that she was sittingCopy !req
134. in the same spot as in
the Neighboring Sounds scene.Copy !req
135. What's that noise?Copy !req
136. Oh, it's the cats.Copy !req
137. A guy had broken into the house next door
to steal the gas container.Copy !req
138. Later, of course,
we re-enacted the whole thing...Copy !req
139. …with my telephone.Copy !req
140. For many years, I photographed
the apartment and the neighborhood.Copy !req
141. And this one time,
I took the picture of a ghost.Copy !req
142. A presence.Copy !req
143. The picture is right in the living room
of our apartment...Copy !req
144. but there's a figure in it,
and I have no idea who it is.Copy !req
145. To this day, I don't know
how this figure ended upCopy !req
146. on my camera,
and on my film.Copy !req
147. All I know is that
the photograph got aroundCopy !req
148. and friends wanted to take me
to a Spiritist center.Copy !req
149. They thought I was a medium.Copy !req
150. Years ago, I got home from the cinema
with Emilie on a Sunday night.Copy !req
151. Sat down at the kitchen table
to smoke a cigarette.Copy !req
152. Then I heard barking
I hadn't heard in years.Copy !req
153. It was Nico barking,
the neighbor's dog.Copy !req
154. There was just a problem:
Nico was dead.Copy !req
155. He died two years after
Neighboring Sounds was released.Copy !req
156. Can't get to sleep, Mom?Copy !req
157. No.Copy !req
158. He will keep on barking…Copy !req
159. I got up, hearing Nico's howls and barks,
and suddenlyCopy !req
160. I understood the film was on Globo,
on national TV.Copy !req
161. And our neighbors were
all watching the film.Copy !req
162. Nico had become a ghost.Copy !req
163. Nico had a bit part
in another of my films.Copy !req
164. Spontaneously.Copy !req
165. I must have recorded the sound
of Nico barking and howlingCopy !req
166. over a few years.Copy !req
167. It was hard to believe
a dog could bark that much.Copy !req
168. He'd bark because
he spent the weekend alone.Copy !req
169. Meaning, he'd spend
all the weekend barking.Copy !req
170. I tried talking to the neighbors,
to no avail.Copy !req
171. They always found a way
to say Nico was not a problem.Copy !req
172. He was actually advantageous.Copy !req
173. They argued that,
if Nico's barking,Copy !req
174. it means thieves will stay away.Copy !req
175. This shot of Nico lying down
was seen just now.Copy !req
176. Take a look.Copy !req
177. The neighbors' house was
overtaken by termites,Copy !req
178. which contaminated our building
and our apartment as well.Copy !req
179. Bastards.Copy !req
180. The termites ended up in another
film of mine Aquarius.Copy !req
181. As it happens,
the neighbors' house, with its pool,Copy !req
182. built in the '70s,
was overtaken by termites…Copy !req
183. Which brought down
the roof over their kitchen.Copy !req
184. After all those years,
the house went bald,Copy !req
185. right in front of our living room.Copy !req
186. The house fell into disrepairCopy !req
187. and nature takes notice.Copy !req
188. It occupies the empty spaces.Copy !req
189. I love animals—
Hove dogs, cats—Copy !req
190. but these cats took over
and got on my nerves.Copy !req
191. So fucking annoying.Copy !req
192. The netting over the window
is a cat deterrent.Copy !req
193. And finally, this.Copy !req
194. The house turned into
a bunker.Copy !req
195. Sometimes it feels like
the house died with that dog.Copy !req
196. The films photographed
the neighborhood's demeanor.Copy !req
197. FORTLEVCopy !req
198. No, that building's fine,
it's the next one over.Copy !req
199. There, that one there...Copy !req
200. Too much.
Turn the big one a bit.Copy !req
201. There you go,
turn it all the way up.Copy !req
202. Where there were no bars,
bars went up.Copy !req
203. You'd walk into the building
from the street— there was no gate.Copy !req
204. - Clodoaldo.
- Hey, thank you, Bia.Copy !req
205. Should the receipt be
in your name or in Ricardo's?Copy !req
206. I won't need one.Copy !req
207. - Thanks for the coffee.
- Don't mention it.Copy !req
208. Need anything,
let me know.Copy !req
209. I always found it strange
because this neighborhoodCopy !req
210. never felt
especially dangerous.Copy !req
211. SECURITY AND STYLE FOR
YOUR PROPERTYCopy !req
212. Camera!Copy !req
213. This was always
my favorite house on the street.Copy !req
214. The only one with a short.
meter-high fence;Copy !req
215. the large windows have no barsCopy !req
216. A phenomenon.Copy !req
217. When we shot Neighboring SoundsCopy !req
218. the owner told me that,
due to the short fenceCopy !req
219. and the unprotected windows
in the front yard,Copy !req
220. no one had ever tried
to break into her house.Copy !req
221. My name is
Clodoaldo Pereira dos Anjos.Copy !req
222. Nice to meet you.
Your name?Copy !req
223. Sometimes people ask if what
they see in the filmsCopy !req
224. is production design.Copy !req
225. No, it's no production design.Copy !req
226. Or, sometimes I'd lie.Copy !req
227. Of course it's production design…Copy !req
228. And people would be impressed.Copy !req
229. This other house behind the wall.Copy !req
230. A friend lived here in the '80s.Copy !req
231. When I looked at footage of our home
to work on this montage,Copy !req
232. I saw there's the
apartment of our normal lifeCopy !req
233. and there's the cinema apartment.Copy !req
234. Yours, all yoursCopy !req
235. Mine, all mineCopy !req
236. Together, tonightCopy !req
237. I want to give you all my loveCopy !req
238. PART TWO
THE CINEMAS OF DOWNTOWN RECIFECopy !req
239. I love downtown Recife.Copy !req
240. I love downtown Recife.Copy !req
241. Twice, I cut that line,
then put it back in,Copy !req
242. thinking it was redundant to say.Copy !req
243. Then I thought you should say it
when you like someone.Copy !req
244. A city's central area may remind you
of many other cities.Copy !req
245. Katia Mesel.Copy !req
246. WHO HAD MARIELLE KILLED?Copy !req
247. My relationship with downtown Recife
was forged through its cinemas.Copy !req
248. Between the ages of 13 and 25,
more or less,Copy !req
249. I'd go downtown several times a week
to watch movies.Copy !req
250. Deep Throat Ⅱ…Copy !req
251. It's the sequel…Copy !req
252. Downtown is a place part of the city
seems to have forgotten.Copy !req
253. Like someone who was left
with no further explanation.Copy !req
254. Many of the young
have never been downtown,Copy !req
255. not even during Carnaval.Copy !req
256. What can't be denied is that
the money has gone elsewhere.Copy !req
257. I once heard someone say
the problem with downtown...Copy !req
258. Is there's no air conditioning.Copy !req
259. I have a sentimental map
of downtown Recife,Copy !req
260. split by the filthy Capibaribe riverCopy !req
261. with streets and cinemas as landmarks.Copy !req
262. The Art Palácio and the Trianon
were on Sun StreetCopy !req
263. right in front of their main rival
across the river—Copy !req
264. the São Luiz,Copy !req
265. on Dawn Street.Copy !req
266. Facing each other,Copy !req
267. all three of them staring,Copy !req
268. in a stand-offCopy !req
269. in the sunCopy !req
270. and at dawn.Copy !req
271. "A STAR IS BORN"Copy !req
272. Most of these cinemas
are now gone, of course.Copy !req
273. This is Joaquim Nabuco,Copy !req
274. the abolitionist.Copy !req
275. This little map covers an area
with street names such as "Longing",Copy !req
276. "Hospice" and "Nymphs".Copy !req
277. "Hunger Alley",
and "Photographers' Alley"Copy !req
278. Livro Sete, a great bookstore,
no longer exists either.Copy !req
279. "Freedom for the customer to choose a book."Copy !req
280. It is now a church.Copy !req
281. But downtown does
its own thing as well.Copy !req
282. It's like…Copy !req
283. "If you don't like me, Fuck You."Copy !req
284. There are those who believe that
downtown Recife is dead.Copy !req
285. Recifians say they're the 2nd best
Carnival in Brazil, 3rd in the world.Copy !req
286. According to Dr. H. Martins,
the order is: Nice, Rio, Recife.Copy !req
287. Is it? See for yourselves...Copy !req
288. On the Boa Vista bridge we can see
the impressive, excited crowd.Copy !req
289. A friend once wrote that
downtown Recife smells like tide,Copy !req
290. fruits,Copy !req
291. and piss.Copy !req
292. Jomard Muniz de Britto
& Antônio Cadengue.Copy !req
293. Downtown probably smelled like that
even when money was here.Copy !req
294. Cláudio Assis
& Matheus Nachtergaele.Copy !req
295. I found these imagesCopy !req
296. of myself in the lobby of the
Art Palácio cinema on the week it closed.Copy !req
297. July 1992.Copy !req
298. Almost 30 years later, I was sent
these photographs of the same place...Copy !req
299. But taken a few days before
the cinema opened its doors in 1940.Copy !req
300. At least 30 million people came
through this place in over 50 years.Copy !req
301. I followed the last two years
of the Art PalácioCopy !req
302. shooting photos and video
with a VHS camera.Copy !req
303. I was a student at the time.Copy !req
304. - Got two cruzeiros?
- No.Copy !req
305. Got a thousand cruzeiros?Copy !req
306. It was like being on a ship
as it's being prepped to be sunk.Copy !req
307. Sometimes, it seemed like a factory
full of old machines.Copy !req
308. It was at the Art Palácio
where I met Alexandre Moura.Copy !req
309. Mr. Alexandre.Copy !req
310. The projection room was hot
and had no air conditioning.Copy !req
311. Alexandre would take his
shirt off to work and sit or lie on the floor,Copy !req
312. where it was cooler
than sitting in the chair.Copy !req
313. CinemaScope.Copy !req
314. Let some air in.
Or else we'll die.Copy !req
315. I showed The Godfather here.Copy !req
316. I worked with this Godfather…Copy !req
317. It showed here for four months.Copy !req
318. Wasn't it on TV the other day?
The Godfather?Copy !req
319. But my kids...Copy !req
320. I got so fed up with that music
that I couldn't stand it any more.Copy !req
321. On the last day we showed
The Godfather, I couldn't take it,Copy !req
322. I was so anxious
to stop showing that film.Copy !req
323. So I went over to the Trianon.Copy !req
324. And I was a young man back then!Copy !req
325. I went over to the TrianonCopy !req
326. and the guy from the Trianon came over
here to finish the filmCopy !req
327. 'cause I just couldn't do it.Copy !req
328. You spend four months
watching the same film...Copy !req
329. Mr. Alexandre told me how he dealt
with censorship under the dictatorship.Copy !req
330. So two guys arrived.Copy !req
331. "This film's impounded, y'hear?"Copy !req
332. They opened up
the projection room…Copy !req
333. - Who are you, sir?
- Federal Police!Copy !req
334. "The film's impounded!"Copy !req
335. Fine with me.
I'll leave early!Copy !req
336. I once had a dreamCopy !req
337. in which Mr. Alexandre opened
the hatch on the projectorCopy !req
338. and the light made him disappear.
As in…Copy !req
339. Just like in Terminator 2Copy !req
340. which he showed
in sold out screenings.Copy !req
341. Antônio!Copy !req
342. No one's here.Copy !req
343. Antônio!Copy !req
344. Antônio!Copy !req
345. After all these years,
I never got permissionCopy !req
346. to see the ruins of the Art Palácio.Copy !req
347. There's a good side to that.Copy !req
348. When I remember this cinema,
I also remember Alexandre,Copy !req
349. who passed away in 2003.Copy !req
350. Did I ever tell you
what that window's for?Copy !req
351. - What it was for?
- No.Copy !req
352. For the narrator.Copy !req
353. When it was an art film...Copy !req
354. Art films, there'd be a narrator
there from the radio.Copy !req
355. You know, one of those narrators
who are good speakers?Copy !req
356. And when would he speak?Copy !req
357. While the film was being shown.Copy !req
358. The film would be shown and he'd
talk during the session, right?Copy !req
359. - What, into the cinema?
- Into the cinema.Copy !req
360. Yeah, it wasn't for the radio,
it was into the cinema.Copy !req
361. For the viewers.Copy !req
362. Now those films...
Art films, right?Copy !req
363. You'd only get people who…Copy !req
364. - What exactly would he say?
- About...Copy !req
365. He'd talk about the film, right?Copy !req
366. In the film, this
and that happened, you see?Copy !req
367. Those films about kings.
Really out there stuff.Copy !req
368. - That's so strange, Mr. Alexandre.
- Isn't it?Copy !req
369. When they announced the Art Palácio
and its neighbor the Trianon were closing,Copy !req
370. I asked Mr. Alexandre if he was coming
to work on closing night.Copy !req
371. It'll be a Tuesday, my shift.Copy !req
372. So I'll be the one closing up.Copy !req
373. I'll lock up the cinema
with a key of tears.Copy !req
374. That's right.Copy !req
375. You're crying…Copy !req
376. I'll lock up the cinema
with a key of tears.Copy !req
377. Mr. Alexandre once told me about
a German manager at the Art PalácioCopy !req
378. during the war.Copy !req
379. Making this film,
I finally put the pieces together.Copy !req
380. Pretty good story.Copy !req
381. The Art Palácio was planned
to be an UFA cinema,Copy !req
382. the major German studio run by
Goebbels and Hitler in the '30s.Copy !req
383. The Germans saw the possibility
of expanding Nazi propagandaCopy !req
384. in two strategic cities in Brazil:Copy !req
385. São Paulo and Recife.Copy !req
386. During the Getúlio Vargas presidency,
who held sympathies for the Nazi regime.Copy !req
387. Recife was visited 67 times,Copy !req
388. between 1930 and 1937,Copy !req
389. by the German machines
Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg.Copy !req
390. São Paulo and Recife, each with
its own UFA Art PalácioCopy !req
391. designed by the architect Rino Levi
who was, by the way, Jewish.Copy !req
392. The office used to be here.Copy !req
393. - Isn't it there?
- No, it's not...Copy !req
394. The headquarters.Copy !req
395. Alexandre would talk about
the German manager at the time:Copy !req
396. Gunther, if I'm not mistaken.Copy !req
397. The trapdoor leads to the balcony, right?Copy !req
398. During wartime the German guy
would hide under there too.Copy !req
399. Any trouble, he'd hideCopy !req
400. and everything
would be quiet again.Copy !req
401. With the war, plans for Recife's
Art Palácio at the Trianon buildingCopy !req
402. being a UFA project were abandoned.Copy !req
403. The building was taken over by
distributor and exhibitor Art FilmsCopy !req
404. founded by Italian
immigrant Ugo Sorrentino,Copy !req
405. who had been since 1931Copy !req
406. the exclusive distributor
for UFA in Brazil.Copy !req
407. And continued to be until 1941.Copy !req
408. Months later, Brazil finally cut
commercial ties to Hitler's Germany.Copy !req
409. These buildings came up in the '40sCopy !req
410. and the money was here.Copy !req
411. Recife's places of power
were carefully planned.Copy !req
412. In the '70s, it started to
lose its prestige,Copy !req
413. not unlike the cinemas.Copy !req
414. Seems like parking space
was an issue as well.Copy !req
415. Little by little, the money left
for the South Side of Recife.Copy !req
416. Over there in Boa Viagem.Copy !req
417. Same thing took place
in so many citiesCopy !req
418. around the world.Copy !req
419. Printer cartridges and toner,Copy !req
420. an English course,Copy !req
421. an office,Copy !req
422. some kind of prosthetics.Copy !req
423. You can almost hear the intrigue:Copy !req
424. American and Nazi spies,Copy !req
425. Brazilians in favor and against
the country's neutrality in relation to the war.Copy !req
426. Everyone plottingCopy !req
427. Carnaval.Copy !req
428. One can also imagine this buildingCopy !req
429. becoming good affordable housing
for many people.Copy !req
430. The US Consulate was hereCopy !req
431. during the war.Copy !req
432. Another US Consulate of sorts
was in this buildingCopy !req
433. not too far away.Copy !req
434. Every Hollywood studio had offices
in this five-story building:Copy !req
435. Metro, Universal,
Columbia Pictures, Fox,Copy !req
436. Paramount, Warner,
United Artists, Disney.Copy !req
437. There was even room for foreign companies
like Atlántida, Cinédia, and Embrafilme.Copy !req
438. At least that's how Brazilian
distributors in this building felt.Copy !req
439. Scene 9, take 2!Copy !req
440. This footage from
the short film EisensteinCopy !req
441. is the last surviving images
of the print distribution centerCopy !req
442. that supplied cinemas in
Brazil's North and Northeast.Copy !req
443. Fiction films are
the best documentaries.Copy !req
444. With the arrival of the internet,
the studio offices closed in the 2000sCopy !req
445. and film distribution was
centralized in São Paulo,Copy !req
446. about 2000 kilometers away.Copy !req
447. The other day I dropped by the
Alfredo Fernandes buildingCopy !req
448. and the new administrator informed me,
very authoritatively,Copy !req
449. that there had never been any
film companies in that building.Copy !req
450. These companies only occupied
the building for over 70 years.Copy !req
451. Luckily I kept some
mementos from the distributorsCopy !req
452. at the Alfredo Fernandes building.Copy !req
453. Right at the back of the building
was its trash.Copy !req
454. Right over thereCopy !req
455. was Hollywood's trashCopy !req
456. High quality American posters, trailers,
photographs, lobby cards, pressbooks…Copy !req
457. Every week, hundreds of
such items were thrown out.Copy !req
458. A well-known secret.Copy !req
459. A lot of it was resold
by Paulo BarbosaCopy !req
460. on the sidewalk in front of the Trianon.Copy !req
461. These images are over 30 years old.Copy !req
462. The cinemas went extinct, didn't they?Copy !req
463. The poor ones with
no money sometimes buy…Copy !req
464. sometimes I'll
give them printed materials.Copy !req
465. If I got duplicates, I'll give it away.
Give 'em materials.Copy !req
466. A lot of 'em don't have any money,
they just look.Copy !req
467. Paulo Barbosa sold film memorabilia
but he was also a fireman.Copy !req
468. RECIFE HERO EARNS A
LIVING AS STREET VENDORCopy !req
469. And he was one of the heroes
who saved Recife from a tragedy.Copy !req
470. On May 12th 1985Copy !req
471. he untied the mooring ropes
of a burning tanker at the port.Copy !req
472. So many stories.Copy !req
473. "CHRISTMAS BONUS: FIVE DEAD"Copy !req
474. Mrs. Ricardo Pessoa de Queiroz.Copy !req
475. Mrs. Julio.Copy !req
476. Mrs. Antiógenes.Copy !req
477. This paper from 1977.Copy !req
478. King Kong with Fay Wray, 1933Copy !req
479. King Kong Escapes at the Trianon.Copy !req
480. São Luiz had Dino de Laurentiis' King Kong.Copy !req
481. Down there we've got
The Man from Hong KongCopy !req
482. and Costinha e o King Mong.Copy !req
483. The 1977 King Kong fever.Copy !req
484. And Sonia at the Boa Vista
in Dona Flor, third week.Copy !req
485. Around 150 thousand people saw Sonia
in Dona Flor at the Moderno alone.Copy !req
486. I ended up shooting a scene
with Sonia BragaCopy !req
487. where the Moderno used to be.Copy !req
488. For the film we made
together Aquarius.Copy !req
489. There used to be windows with posters
on this wall of the Moderno cinemaCopy !req
490. but they've been filled in.Copy !req
491. Each window had the poster
of a film, and two photos.Copy !req
492. It was the first image
you ever saw of a film.Copy !req
493. Like a gallery exhibit
but right on the street.Copy !req
494. That's how I found out—
I was just a kid—Copy !req
495. that they had made another
Star Wars movieCopy !req
496. called The Empire Strikes Back.Copy !req
497. Vadinho!Copy !req
498. Sonia BragaCopy !req
499. Some years ago,Copy !req
500. I gained access to the
Moderno projection booth.Copy !req
501. Now here is something
quite analog.Copy !req
502. Manual.Copy !req
503. Cinema marquees.Copy !req
504. When digitizing these images,Copy !req
505. something strange happened.Copy !req
506. The image of this marquee,
archived for so long,Copy !req
507. went through a digital mutation.Copy !req
508. It was like the Moderno marquee
was trying to tell me something.Copy !req
509. A tree covers part of the marqueeCopy !req
510. and it's like the film
becomes another film.Copy !req
511. THE SILENCE...Copy !req
512. Sometimes...Copy !req
513. Marquees read like
secret messages to people.Copy !req
514. Who's this Frankie?Copy !req
515. Who's this Johnny?Copy !req
516. My Name is Nobody.Copy !req
517. My Name is Earthquake…Copy !req
518. The city was marked all over
by fantasy words.Copy !req
519. "See Barbarella doing her thing".Copy !req
520. "You'll scream in terror
and jump out of your seatCopy !req
521. when you see Jaws!"Copy !req
522. Messages spelt carefully
and craftily.Copy !req
523. "NO ZIPPER"Copy !req
524. I like this series of photosCopy !req
525. taken on the Duarte Coelho bridge
in different decades,Copy !req
526. always with the São Luiz Cinema
in the background.Copy !req
527. Johnny Guitar - this photo's from '57.Copy !req
528. Pink Floyd: The Wall and The Entity—Copy !req
529. March '83.Copy !req
530. This one with O Quatrilho,Copy !req
531. in the '90s.Copy !req
532. Suzana Amaral
& Marcélia Cartaxo.Copy !req
533. Arnold Schwarzenegger.Copy !req
534. ChuckCopy !req
535. Norris.Copy !req
536. I shot this in Super 8Copy !req
537. and watching these images
makes me dizzy.Copy !req
538. How could someone go up there,
on that marquee,Copy !req
539. no safety procedures,Copy !req
540. 10 meters up?Copy !req
541. Crazy.Copy !req
542. Ivan Cordeiro.Copy !req
543. The Living Daylights.Copy !req
544. I saw it at the São Luiz.Copy !req
545. Fernando Spencer.Copy !req
546. Marquees are timekeepers.Copy !req
547. This photo from Jornal do Brasil,
taken in Rio de Janeiro,Copy !req
548. dates to when the military passed the
Institutional Act 5, tightening the regime.Copy !req
549. John Boorman's Point Blank
showing at the PathéCopy !req
550. and shit going down
on Cinelandia.Copy !req
551. Movie marquees, in a way,
commented on life in the real world.Copy !req
552. It was a loss to cities, I think.Copy !req
553. Was it a coincidence that the Veneza's
marquee read Knock OffCopy !req
554. the night it closed?Copy !req
555. Was that a coincidence?Copy !req
556. Cinemas that no longer exist
showing films about ghosts.Copy !req
557. December, 1970.Copy !req
558. The grand opening of
the Veneza Cinema, on Hospício St.Copy !req
559. The opening night film:
Universal's AirportCopy !req
560. in 70mm.Copy !req
561. Some days earlier,Copy !req
562. a special screening of
Fox's Tora! Tora! Tora!Copy !req
563. was offered to the Armed Forces.Copy !req
564. Military band.Copy !req
565. Military government.Copy !req
566. The owner, Luiz Severiano Ribeiro Junior,Copy !req
567. is seen here greeting the
governor of Pernambuco, Nilo CoelhoCopy !req
568. and Mrs. Nilo Coelho.Copy !req
569. Her name is actually Maria Tereza
Coimbra de Almeida Brennand.Copy !req
570. The Severiano Ribeiro company
was the largest film exhibitor in BrazilCopy !req
571. during the 20th century.Copy !req
572. At the Veneza,
they spared no expense.Copy !req
573. It's kind of sad to become
attached to a product.Copy !req
574. The problem lies in the fact
that you spent years of your lifeCopy !req
575. going to this cinema,Copy !req
576. so the relationship gets
emotional and confusing.Copy !req
577. It was at the Veneza where I began
to pay attention to sound in films.Copy !req
578. To these days, people talk about
the experience of image and soundCopy !req
579. for Milos Forman's Hair
in 70mm at the Veneza.Copy !req
580. I wasn't old enough to watch it.Copy !req
581. The military government, on its last legs,
rated it 18 and over.Copy !req
582. They found Hair subversive
and anti-military.Copy !req
583. The film became a phenomenon in Recife,
more so than in any other city in Brazil.Copy !req
584. Over 200 thousand people saw Hair
at the Veneza in almost six months.Copy !req
585. CINEMA IS THE GREATEST ENTERTAINMENTCopy !req
586. The industry sets up the
infrastructure for distributionCopy !req
587. then throws it all out.Copy !req
588. They were building a mini
shopping mall inside the cinemaCopy !req
589. without exactly
tearing the whole cinema down.Copy !req
590. This thing took root
inside the VenezaCopy !req
591. like an alien organism
and the cinema became its host.Copy !req
592. The city changes
every year, no doubt.Copy !req
593. With a lot of demolition.Copy !req
594. But I've never seen a mutation
as strange as this one inside the Veneza.Copy !req
595. Seen from a distance,
the Veneza is this building here.Copy !req
596. With these pillars.Copy !req
597. Here was the Marist School,Copy !req
598. a traditional school that closed down.Copy !req
599. It's also turning into a shopping mall—Copy !req
600. The Marist Shopping Mall—Copy !req
601. Thus named in memory
of the school that closed.Copy !req
602. A bit like the cinemas.Copy !req
603. These images come from
André Antônio's The Cult,Copy !req
604. a film that takes place
in a futuristic version of Recife.Copy !req
605. These are the only surviving
images of that school.Copy !req
606. Futuristic films
are also documentaries.Copy !req
607. the Polytheama Cinema.Copy !req
608. PART THREE
CHURCHES AND HOLY GHOSTSCopy !req
609. Some 50 million people have been
through the São Luiz in 70 years.Copy !req
610. I don't know anywhere in Recife
as unanimous as this.Copy !req
611. Amin Stepple.Copy !req
612. On the inside, the São Luiz
stimulates the imagination.Copy !req
613. But as you leave,
it throws you back onto the street.Copy !req
614. Ariano e Zélia.Copy !req
615. Cinemas can be places of kindness.Copy !req
616. TAKE CARECopy !req
617. WE'LL BE TOGETHER SOONCopy !req
618. I've always heard people referring to
Recife's São Luiz Cinema as a temple.Copy !req
619. Part of local cinephilia
uses catholic imageryCopy !req
620. when talking about the São Luiz.Copy !req
621. I've heard things like:Copy !req
622. "To see a Glauber or a Hitchcock
one should kneel in praise".Copy !req
623. The cinema as a church.Copy !req
624. Maybe it's the
fleur-de-lis tainted glass.Copy !req
625. Very famous.Copy !req
626. It's ironic that the São Luiz and the
Duarte Coelho building above it.Copy !req
627. were built where there
used to be a church.Copy !req
628. The Chapel of the
Holy Trinity of the English.Copy !req
629. British money in Recife
was no longer as importantCopy !req
630. as it had been in the 19th century,Copy !req
631. especially after the war.Copy !req
632. They demolished this
Anglican Church from 1838Copy !req
633. to build a cinema in 1952.Copy !req
634. The decoration celebrates
French king Louis IX.Copy !req
635. It's all set up like a tent
during the Crusades,Copy !req
636. with 16 shields on the walls.Copy !req
637. The fleur-de-lis is everywhere.Copy !req
638. And on the tainted glass.Copy !req
639. Luís Severiano Ribeiro,
the patriarch,Copy !req
640. also spared no expense
on the São Luiz.Copy !req
641. I witnessed two cinemas
that stopped being cinemasCopy !req
642. and became evangelical churches
at the end of the '80s.Copy !req
643. The Eldorado, in Afogados,
and the Albatroz, in Casa Amarela.Copy !req
644. The transition took a few weeks,Copy !req
645. for the cinemas remained unchanged.Copy !req
646. Seats, décor—
even the screens remained.Copy !req
647. Dead cinemasCopy !req
648. but now used as temples
of the Universal Church.Copy !req
649. When I revisited these images,
I saw they might reveal the beginningCopy !req
650. of profound changes in
Brazil's relationship to religion.Copy !req
651. Catholics losing groundCopy !req
652. and evangelicals gaining power.Copy !req
653. I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH
HIM WHO STRENGTHENS MECopy !req
654. They bought cinemas.Copy !req
655. When I was a kid, I saw,
on this exact screen at the Albatroz,Copy !req
656. a Passion of the Christ film
starring Fernanda Montenegro.Copy !req
657. An Easter week movie.Copy !req
658. There are different ways now of
stepping out of the trance,Copy !req
659. of leaving the temple,Copy !req
660. or exiting the movie.Copy !req
661. Miguel and Bruno.Copy !req
662. The São Luiz is a public cinemaCopy !req
663. which no longer has the logic
of a commercial screen.Copy !req
664. Nor should it.Copy !req
665. A cinema like this
helps build characterCopy !req
666. Geraldo Pinho.Copy !req
667. Gustavo Coimbra.Copy !req
668. Films have a natural tendency
towards melodrama.Copy !req
669. This is often in the image itself.Copy !req
670. But also makes sense to
embrace the melodrama.Copy !req
671. Like listening to
Nelson Ferreira's Evocação.Copy !req
672. I found in one of the rooms
at the São Luiz,Copy !req
673. one of the projectors
from the old Trianon Cinema,Copy !req
674. the Art Palacio's next door neighbor.Copy !req
675. Kept as a donation.Copy !req
676. And scrap metal.Copy !req
677. The Trianon building.Copy !req
678. On the other side of the river,Copy !req
679. Where Mr. Alexandre used to work.Copy !req
680. Good evening.Copy !req
681. Good evening.Copy !req
682. - How are you?
- I'm fine.Copy !req
683. You got the address?Copy !req
684. These three stops here—Copy !req
685. are we picking someone up
or did you just put themCopy !req
686. to trick the app
and drive around?Copy !req
687. To trick the app
and drive around.Copy !req
688. Sometimes, I like to
go home, and to unwindCopy !req
689. and drive around in an Uber.Copy !req
690. But if I just put the address,
it chooses a routeCopy !req
691. that's boring and dull.Copy !req
692. So, to get around that—
I once hadCopy !req
693. an argument with a driverCopy !req
694. who wished to follow the route
the app gave him,Copy !req
695. and I asked him to go
another way, and, well…Copy !req
696. Want me to turn off the music?Copy !req
697. No, you can leave it on.Copy !req
698. Who is that?Copy !req
699. Herb Albert.Copy !req
700. This guy's helped me
get through a lot.Copy !req
701. How is he helping you?Copy !req
702. He's an inspiration.
I'm learning to play the trumpet.Copy !req
703. So I listen to him a lot.Copy !req
704. Because he's good.Copy !req
705. - Do you play anywhere?
- I play in a frevo orchestra.Copy !req
706. Carnaval music.Copy !req
707. It's got that upbeat energy I like.Copy !req
708. Cool.Copy !req
709. And what do you work with?Copy !req
710. I work in films.Copy !req
711. Films?Copy !req
712. But, do you work in a cinema
or do you make movies?Copy !req
713. I work with a movie theater.Copy !req
714. but I make films, I…Copy !req
715. I write and direct films.Copy !req
716. That's cool!Copy !req
717. You an actor?
I want a picture later, all right?Copy !req
718. - You'll take my picture?
- I want a picture with you, all right?Copy !req
719. I don't get artists
in my car everyday, do I?Copy !req
720. I'll take one of you as well.Copy !req
721. Have you ever done a telenovela?Copy !req
722. No, I've never done a novela.Copy !req
723. I bet you know lots
of famous people, right?Copy !req
724. I know some famous people, yeah.Copy !req
725. Movies are great.Copy !req
726. The other day I found out
I have a superpower.Copy !req
727. - You have what?
- A superpower.Copy !req
728. You have a superpower?Copy !req
729. - Yeah.
- Yeah?Copy !req
730. The power to turn invisible.Copy !req
731. You turn invisible?Copy !req
732. Yeah, but not, like, disappear...Copy !req
733. tele-transportation, jump
somewhere else, y'know?Copy !req
734. But, like...Copy !req
735. I turn invisible,
but in the same spot I am.Copy !req
736. Then, when I want to,
I reappear.Copy !req
737. Get it?Copy !req
738. So...Copy !req
739. So do you…Copy !req
740. Do you turn invisible at will?Copy !req
741. Or do you suddently turn invisible
in the middle of a conversation?Copy !req
742. Yeah, sometimes I disappear
by accident as well.Copy !req
743. But...Copy !req
744. I try to plan the moments
I turn invisibleCopy !req
745. and that I reappear, got it?Copy !req
746. You are there, aren't you?Copy !req
747. Right here, right here!Copy !req
748. Is the music too loud?
Want me to turn it down?Copy !req