''Xica'' ( pt, Xica da Silva) is a 1976 Brazilian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed and written by

Carlos Diegues Carlos Diegues, also known as Cacá Diegues (born May 19, 1940), is a Brazilian film director. He was born in Maceió, Alagoas, and is best known as a member of the Cinema Novo Cinema Novo (), "New Cinema" in English, is a genre and movement o ...

, based on the novel by João Felício dos Santos, which is a romanticized retelling of the true story of

Chica da Silva Francisca da Silva de Oliveira (–1796), known in history by the name Chica da Silvahttp://dicionarioegramatica.com/2015/12/06/chica-ou-xica-da-silva-o-certo-e-xica-ou-chica-da-silva/ Chica ou Xica da Silva? in: DicionarioeGramatica.com and wh ...

,http://dicionarioegramatica.com/2015/12/06/chica-ou-xica-da-silva-o-certo-e-xica-ou-chica-da-silva/ Chica ou Xica da Silva? in: DicionarioeGramatica.com an 18th-century

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n slave in

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 ...

, who attracts the attention of a powerful

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 ...

land-owner and eventually rises into the Brazilian

high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

. The movie stars

Zezé Motta Maria José Motta de Oliveira (born 27 June 1944), known as Zezé Motta, is a Brazilian actress and singer. She is considered one of the most important actresses in Brazil. Life and career Born in Campos dos Goytacazes, she moved with her famil ...

Walmor Chagas Walmor de Souza Chagas (28 August 1930 – 18 January 2013) was a Brazilian actor, director, and producer. He appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1965 and 2012. Chagas died on 18 January 2013, in his home in Guaratin ...

and

José Wilker José Wilker Almeida (20 August 1944 – 5 April 2014) was a Brazilian film, stage, and television actor and director. The actor gained fame in telenovelas like '' Roque Santeiro'' (1985), but became known internationally for his role as Vadinho, ...

. It was chosen as the Brazilian submission for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

49th Academy Awards The 49th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 28, 1977, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Richard Pryor, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty. ''Network'' and '' Al ...

, but it failed to get a nomination.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Plot

The film is based on the novel ''Memórias do Distrito de Diamantina'', written by João Felicio dos Santos (who has a small role in the film as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

pastor). It is a romanticized retelling of the true story of

, an 18th-century

n slave in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, who attracts the attention of João Fernandes de Oliveira, a

sent by Lisbon with the Crown's exclusive contract for

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s, and eventually becomes his lover, rises into power and into the Brazilian

of the time. Moreover, João quickly lets the intendant and other authorities know that he can be bribed, and gets onto their corruption scheme. Eventually Lisbon hears of João's (and Xica's) excesses and sends an inspector. José, a political radical, is another main character, who provides Xica refuge.

Cast

as Xica da Silva (based on

) *

as João Fernandes * Altair Lima as Intendent *

Elke Maravilha Elke Maravilha ( Grünupp;Stepan Nercessian as José *

Rodolfo Arena Rodolfo Arena (15 December 1910 – 31 August 1980) was a Brazilian actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1920 and 1980. He starred in the 1974 film '' Sagarana: The Duel'', which was entered into the 24th Berlin International Film Festival ...

as Sargeant *

as The Count of Valadares * Marcos Vinicius as Teodoro * João Felicio dos Santos as pastor

TV adaptation

In 1996, the now defunct TV station

Rede Manchete Rede Manchete (; lit.: Headline Network; also known as TV Manchete or only Manchete) was a Brazilian television network that was founded in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1983 by the Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and businessman Adolpho Bloch. The ne ...

successfully adapted the film plot to the

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

format, directed by Walter Avancini, written by Walcyr Carrasco and starring

Taís Araújo Taís Bianca Gama de Araújo (; born 25 November 1978) is a Brazilian actress, TV host and model. Her first prominent role on television was in 1996 as protagonist of the Brazilian telenovela '' Xica da Silva'' by Walcyr Carrasco, in the Rede M ...

as the title character. This telenovela marked the first time an

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see " preto"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. ...

actress played the lead role on a TV show. In 2005,

SBT sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala (programming language), Scala and Java (programming language), Java projects, similar to Apache Software Foundation, Apache's Apache Maven, Maven and Gradle. Its main features are: *Native support fo ...

re-aired ''Xica da Silva''.

References

External links

* * * {{Brazilian submission for Academy Awards 1976 comedy films 1976 films Brazilian comedy films Films based on Brazilian novels Films directed by Carlos Diegues 1970s Portuguese-language films

Plot

Cast

TV adaptation

See also

References

External links