RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Decades of cinema, in a life spanning nearly a century, are being screened in the next two weeks in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Deceased just three months ago, at the age of 96, Franco Zeffirelli is remembered in the extensive exhibition “Love, Tragedy, and Religion”, which runs until November 3rd at Caixa Cultural.
There are nine of the 20 feature films that the Italian filmmaker shot in a career that dates back to 1957, when he debuted with “Camping” in 2002, when he directed his last “Callas Forever”, in honor of the Greek lyrical singer Maria Callas (1923-1977).
Zeffirelli, who did not film in the last 17 years of his life, disclosed in his autobiography, released in 2006, that he had been in love with Callas, despite publicly declaring himself homosexual, underlining the long love relationship he had with fellow filmmaker Luchino Visconti (1906-1976).
The topics that give the show its name, curated by Sérgio Moriconi and coordinated by Nilson Rodrigues, are featured in films such as “Romeo and Juliet” (1968), “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977), and “Endless Love” (1981).
The selection considers important aspects of his education, such as his taste for historical Catholic issues and his familiarity with the work of William Shakespeare, of which he was one of the main adapters for the cinema, as Rodrigues points out. “Zeffirelli (…) came from opera and went to the cinema at the hands of Luchino Visconti”, he adds, in the presentation text of the show.
Criticized for his penchant for melodrama and accused of obsession with showing beautiful landscapes to the detriment of the plot of his films, Zeffirelli was not limited to that, as shown in works such as “Tea with Mussolini”, released in 1999 and which is part of the first screenings of the show. In this feature, the filmmaker blends the turbulence of the rise of fascism, during his youth, with memories of his personal life in Florence, tracing a kind of “semi-biography”.
“Brother Sun, Sister Moon” (1975) and another adaptation of Shakespeare, “Hamlet” (1980), are also among the first of the show’s screenings, the complete program of which can be seen on the Caixa Cultural website.
FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI – LOVE, TRAGEDY, AND RELIGION IN CINEMA
CAIXA CULTURAL
Address: Avenida Almirante Barroso, 25, Carioca (next to the subway station)
Tel.: +55 (21) 3980-3815
Until November 3rd, with sessions starting between 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM
Tickets: R$6 (US$1.5) and R$3
CINEMA: this week’s premieres: (places and times on links in the titles of each film)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
With Angelina Jolie in the lead role, the film version directed by Joachin Ronning is the main premiere this Thursday, October 17th, in dozens of theaters all over Rio. Maleficent initiates evil by clashing with Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), who would become Aurora’s mother-in-law (Elle Fanning), soon after she wakes up from a deep sleep and is now queen of the Moors, proposed to by Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson).
Pavarotti
Showing in only two neighborhoods- Barra and São Conrado -, director Ron Howard presents a glimpse of the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) who boosted the popularity of opera in the 1990s, with testimonials from a number of partners, including Spanish tenor José Carreras, and the U2 vocalist, Bono Vox.
The Champion
This Italian drama tells the story of a Roma soccer player who is helped by his manager after causing problems in the field and needing to recover; it premiers in Gávea and in Botafogo.
Under the Rose
Winner of 30 international awards – for best film at the Madrid Film Festival – this suspense film directed by Josué Ramos starts with the sudden disappearance of Sara Castro (Patricia Olmedo), without a trace. Her parents, Oliver (Pedro Casablanc) and Julia (Elisabet Gelabert), look for her in vain for days on end, until they receive a letter from someone who claims to have kidnapped her.
My Name is Daniel
Daniel de Castro Gonçalves directs the documentary in the first person, shown in Barra and Botafogo. Born with a disability that no doctor has been able to diagnose, the young man recounts his childhood, by family records, while he continues to seek some answers to his illness.
THEATER
Mojo Mickybo
Diego Morais directs the play by Owen McCafferty, in which Pedro Henrique Lopes and Cirillo Luna play two boys who, belonging to opposite sides of a divided city, live in an unlikely friendship.
Venue: Teatro XP Investimentos at the Jockey Club
Address: Avenida Bartolomeu Mitre 1.110, Gávea
Tel.: +55 (21) 3807-1110
Until October 27th – Friday and Saturday, at 9 PM. Sunday, at 8 PM.
Tickets: R$70 and R$35