Os deuses e os mortos

Ruy Guerra and the colapse of brazilian modernization

Abstract

It is common knowledge that the Cinema Novo movement takes a new look at the modernist literary tradition, in a variety of adaptations to film. In 1968, state repression becomes more severe, and national cinema goes through a short circuit. Bearing in mind this context, I intend to discuss some aspects of Ruy Guerra’s Os Deuses e os Mortos (1970), which combines elements from Cinema Novo with the novel Terras do Sem-fim (1943, Jorge Amado). In his experimental feature film, Ruy Guerra discusses the possible futures for art in the country in the context of the civil-military dictatorship, while the progressive potentials of modernization colapses.