Marvelous city: contemporary motion-picture sights

Abstract

The purpose in this article is to understand how recent Brazilian motion-picture productions have contributed to reinforce, in the country and abroad, the traditional and stereotyped images of Brazil or to construct a new imaginary, closer to the complex contemporary Brazilian reality. To that purpose, three films were selected, from three internationally creditable directors who used the city of Rio de Janeiro as background, and obtained repercussion in the national and international medias: Orfeu, Bossa Nova and Cidade de Deus.