Ruy Alexandre Guerra Coelho Pereira (born August 22, 1931) is a Portuguese-Brazilian
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
. Guerra was born a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
citizen in Lourenço Marques (today
Maputo
Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...
) in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, when it was still a Portuguese colony.
Biography
Guerra studied at
IDHEC film school in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
from 1952. In 1958 he started his career as an assistant director in several French films. He subsequently immigrated to
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 ...
, where he directed his first feature film, ''
Os Cafajestes
''The Unscrupulous Ones'' ( pt, Os Cafajestes) is a 1962 Brazilian crime film directed by Ruy Guerra. It was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.
Cast
* Jece Valadão - Jandir
* Norma Bengell - Leda
* Daniel Filho - Vavà ...
'' (1962). It was entered into the
12th Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1964, Guerra directed ''
Os Fuzis
''The Guns'' ( pt, Os Fuzis) is a 1964 Brazilian-Argentine drama film directed by Ruy Guerra.
Synopsis
The film's plot alternates between two stories, both set in the drought-stricken ''sertão'' of Northeastern Brazil in 1963. In one storylin ...
'', which placed him in the forefront of the emerging
Cinema Novo
Cinema Novo (), "New Cinema" in English, is a genre and movement of film noted for its emphasis on social equality and intellectualism that rose to prominence in Brazil during the 1960s and 1970s.Dixon & Foster, 293. Cinema Novo formed in respo ...
movement. The film was entered into the
14th Berlin International Film Festival
The 14th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June to 7 July 1964. The Swedish film '' 491'' by Vilgot Sjöman was rejected by festival director ''Alfred Bauer'' owing to its controversial nature. The Golden Bear was awarde ...
where it won the
Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize.
After that he directed the international production ''
Tendres Chasseurs'' (1969) starring
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...
, and ''
Os Deuses e os Mortos'' (1970). The tumultuous political landscape in 1970's Brazil forced Guerra to stop filming until 1976, when he directed ''
A Queda''. The film was entered into the
28th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the
Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize.
In 1980 he returned to Mozambique where he shot ''
Mueda, Memória e Massacre
''Mueda, Memória e Massacre'' (''Mueda, Memory and Massacre'') is a 1979 Mozambican film directed by Ruy Guerra and considered the country's first feature fiction film. The film captures the annual theatrical re-enactment of the Mueda Massacre ...
'', that country's first feature film. While in Mozambique, Guerra shot many short films and helped the creation of the National Institute for Cinema.
In 1982 Guerra shot ''
Eréndira'' in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, based on the work by
Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia GarcÃa Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
. He also directed the musical comedy ''
A Ópera do Malandro
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
'' (1985), based on
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
's free theatrical adaptation of
Bertold Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
's ''
Threepenny Opera''; the TV film ''
Os Amores DifÃceis'', another adaptation of GarcÃa Márquez; and ''
Kuarup'' (1989). In 2000 Guerra's ''
Estorvo'' was nominated for the
Golden Palm
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
2000 Cannes Film Festival.
It was Guerra's third nomination in the festival, after ''Erêndira'' and ''Kuarup''. His 2004 film ''
Portugal S.A.'' was the only film he did in Portugal and entered into the
26th Moscow International Film Festival.
Guerra has appeared in many films as an actor; he is perhaps best known to international audiences for his performance as the doomed
Pedro de Ursúa
Pedro de Urs̼a (1526 Р1561) was a Spanish conquistador from Baztan in Navarre. He is best known for his final trip with Lope de Aguirre in search for El Dorado, where he found death in a plot.
He was born in Arizkun, Baztan, to a Beaum ...
in
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...
's ''
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'' (; german: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes; ) is a 1972 West German epic historical drama film produced, written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role of Spanish soldier Lope de Aguirre, w ...
'' (1972).
Personal life
In 1971, Guerra married Brazilian actress
Leila Diniz. Diniz was killed the following year in the crash of
Japan Airlines Flight 471
Japan Air Lines Flight 471 was a Japan Air Lines international flight from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India. On 14 June 1972 the Do ...
in India.
Filmography
See also
* ''
S.O.S. Noronha'' (1957)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra, Ruy
1931 births
Living people
People from Maputo
Portuguese film directors
Portuguese emigrants to Brazil
Brazilian film directors
Brazilian male film actors
Brazilian film editors
Naturalized citizens of Brazil