Overview

Understanding the iconoclastic work of a lifelong cinematic pioneer Manoel de Oliveira's eighty-five year career made him a filmmaking icon and a cultural giant in his native Portugal. A lifelong cinematic pioneer, Oliveira merged distinctive formal techniques with philosophical treatments of universal themes--frustrated love, aging, nationhood, evil, and divine grace--in films that always moved against mainstream currents. Randal Johnson navigates Oliveira's massive feature film oeuvre. Locating the director's work within the broader context of Portuguese and European cinema, Johnson discusses historical and political influences on Oliveira's work, particularly Portugal's transformation from dictatorship to social democracy. He ranges from Oliveira's early concerns with cinematic specificity to hybrid discourses that suggest a tenuous line between film and theater on the one hand, and between fiction and documentary on the other. A rare English-language portrait of the director, Manoel de Oliveira invites students and scholars alike to explore the work of one of the cinema's greatest and most prolific artists.

Full Product Details

9780252074424

Table of Contents

Reviews

[A] comprehensive and informative critical evaluation of the Portuguese filmmaker's body of work. -- Strictly Film School

"""[A] comprehensive and informative critical evaluation of the Portuguese filmmaker's body of work.""--Strictly Film School"

Author Information

Randal Johnson is professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Cinema Novo x 5: Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Film and other books.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available