Mário Rodrigues Breves Peixoto (; March 3, 1908 – February 3, 1992) was a Brazilian film director, mainly known for his only film ''
Limite'', a
silent experimental film
Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...
filmed in 1930 and premiered in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
on 17 May 1931. Peixoto wrote, directed and took up a minor role in the film. Its musical score includes
Erik Satie,
Claude Debussy,
Alexander Borodin,
Igor Stravinsky,
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...
and
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
.
The single-handed achievement of a member of the well-to-do élite of 1920s Brazil, ''Limite'' became over the years almost a myth — its only copy being almost lost during the 1950s, were it not restored thanks to the personal efforts of two 1970s critics — and the object of various legends, many of them put into circulation by Peixoto himself. One such legend referred to a bogus complimentary article about the film ("A film from South America"), that had supposedly been written by
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
and published, in English translation, in the trendy London magazine ''
Tatler
''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
''. Only after Peixoto admitted, shortly before his death, that he had himself written the supposed "Portuguese translation" of "Eisenstein's" article, was the general credence given to this legend in Brazil withdrawn.
Nevertheless, the restoration of the surviving copy and renewed viewing in the 1970s and 1980s aroused interest in the actual movie. In 1988, the ''
Cinemateca Brasileira
The Cinemateca Brasileira is the institution responsible for preserving Brazilian audiovisual production. In July 2021, it experienced a major fire.
Since 1940, it has been developing activities around the dissemination and restoration of its co ...
'' named it the best
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian film of all time. In 1995 ''Limite'' was once again declared as such, according to a national inquiry held by the newspaper ''
Folha de S.Paulo
''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...
''.
In 1996,
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
and
producer Walter Salles
Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker.
Early life
Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Brazi ...
found the hoard of documents and props that was to become the ''
Mário Peixoto Archive'' in a stash at his firm ''
VideoFilmes'' in
Rio
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
, where currently Saulo Pereira de Mello takes care of the original manuscripts and objects . Pereira de Mello also edits publications by and on Peixoto. ''Onde a terra acaba'' ("At the edge of the earth"), the title of one of Peixoto’s unfinished projects; is also the name of a 2001 documentary film on Peixoto, directed by Salles' former aide Sérgio Machado.
Around the same period in which ''Limite'' was being planned and filmed, Mário Peixoto also began to write and publish. In 1931, he released a collection of poems called ''Mundéu'' (republished in 1996) which is characterized by a strong modernist accent and has a foreword by
Mário de Andrade
Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (October 9, 1893 – February 25, 1945) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. He wrote one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian poetr ...
. In the same year Peixoto published, in a magazine called ''
Bazar
Bazar may refer to:
* Bazar, Afghanistan
* Bazar, Azerbaijan
* Bazar, Mardan, Pakistan
* Bazar, Ukraine
In Iran
* Bazar, East Azerbaijan
* Bazar, Gilan
* Bazareh-ye Qarnas, North Khorasan Province
* Bazargah, Qazvin, Qazvin Province
* Bazar, Sou ...
'', three
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
and a play, that are part of a collection published by Saulo Pereira de Mello in 2004: ''Seis contos e duas peças curtas'' which also includes undated and up till then unpublished material written by Mário. In 2002, another collection of poems written between 1930 and 1960, ''Poemas de permeio com o mar'' was published. In 1933 Mário published, as a private edition, his first and only novel, ''O inútil de cada um'' (republished in 1996). From 1968 on Mário reworked his 1933 original, using it as a basis for an intended extended version that was to be divided in six volumes. So far only the first volume, ''O inútil de cada um – Itamar'' has been published, in 1984, through the personal intervention of Jorge Amado, with whom Mário had worked on one of his film projects.
There are few publications in English on Mario Peixoto or ''Limite'', described by French film historian
Georges Sadoul
Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English.
Biography
Sadoul was ...
as an "unknown masterpiece". In 2006, Michael Korfmann edited a volume that offers ten contemporary views regarding the genesis, aesthetic and reception of the film, gathering contributions by filmmakers and writers from
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
including
Walter Salles
Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker.
Early life
Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Brazi ...
,
Saulo Pereira de Mello,
Carlos Augusto Calil,
William M. Drew,
Alexander Graf
Alexander Graf (''né'' Nenashev; born 25 August 1962) is an Uzbekistani-German chess grandmaster. He was Uzbekistani Chess Champion in 1989 and German Chess Champion in 2004.
Chess career
He won the Uzbekistani Chess Championship in 1989. N ...
,
Paulo Venancio Filho,
Constança Hertz,
Aparecida do Carmo Frigeri Berchior,
Marco Lucchesi and
Marcelo Noah as well as a rare article written by Mário Peixoto himself.
In November 2010, a further restoration of ''Limite'' premiered in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
References
Further reading
* Korfmann, Michael, 2006 ''"Ten contemporary views on Mário Peixoto's Limite"'', Monsenstein und Vannerdat, Muenster; .
* Mello, Saulo Pereira de. ''
Limite, fotogramas''. Rio de Janeiro: FUNARTE.
* Mello, Saulo Pereira de. ''
Limite''. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1996.
* Mello, Saulo Pereira de. ''Mário Peixoto''. Rio de Janeiro: Casa de Rui Barbosa, 1996.
* Mello, Saulo Pereira de. ''
Mário Peixoto - Escritos sobre Cinema''. Rio de Janeiro: Aeroplano, 2000.
* Morais Junior, Luis Carlos de. "Mário, pirata", in ''
O Estudante do Coração''. Rio de Janeiro: Quártica, 2010.
External links
Site dedicated to Mário Peixoto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peixoto, Mario
1908 births
1992 deaths
Brazilian film directors
Belgian emigrants to Brazil