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 does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

filmed in 1930 and premiered in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

on 17 May 1931. Peixoto wrote, directed and took up a minor role in the film. Its musical score includes

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

and

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

. 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; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

and published, in English translation, in the trendy London magazine ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

''. 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, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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''. 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. A major figure of the Resumption Cinema in Brazil, Salles is widely regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian filmmakers of all time. His List of awards and nomina ...

found the hoard of documents and props that was to become the ''

Mário Peixoto Archive Mario is the Italian, French, Croatian, Czech, Norwegian, Slovak, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovene, Polish, Spanish, Danish, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Greek, German, Dutch, and English form of the Latin Roman name Marius. The video ...

'' in a stash at his firm '' VideoFilmes'' in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, 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 po ...

. In the same year Peixoto published, in a magazine called '' Bazar'', three

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single 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 old ...

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 w ...

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

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

including

Saulo Pereira de Mello Saulo may refer to the following people: ;Given name *Saulo Araújo Fontes (born 1989), Brazilian football goalkeeper *Saulo Batista de Andrade Cordeiro (born 1979), Brazilian football midfielder *Saulo Benavente (1916–1982), Argentine painter *Sa ...

Carlos Augusto Calil Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

, 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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Filmography

References

External links

Site dedicated to Mário Peixoto
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peixoto, Mario 1908 births 1992 deaths Brazilian film directors Belgian emigrants to Brazil

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links