Thursday, March 12, 1998
Director hopes to revive Brazilian movie industry
FILM: Oscar nod for best foreign film could encourage
investments
By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In 1989, even after having made the most successful film ever in
Brazil, "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands," director Bruno Barreto
had to leave the country. Due to hyper inflation, film production
in Brazil came to a standstill so Barreto left for the United
States. Then after roughly eight years, Barreto returned home and
got an Academy Award nomination out of it.
His latest release, "Four Days in September," which was shot in
Brazil and is currently in theaters, was nominated for Best Picture
in the Foreign Film category. Barreto sat down with the Bruin in
the Miramax Los Angeles offices last week to talk about what it
means to him and his country.
"God, it means a lot," says Barreto, easing into his chair.
"First of all, it pays off when you work your butt off. I spent
like ten years trying to get this film made."
Based on a true event, "Four Days in September" chronicles the
standoff that took place when young revolutionaries kidnapped the
American Ambassador.
Actor Alan Arkin, who plays the American Ambassador Charles
Elbrick, says that what interested him about the film was the fact
that at the surface level it is a politcal thriller, but the
audience ends up caring about everyone in the movie.
"You end up having a sense of individuality and purpose of
everybody in the film without saying this is a goodperson and this
is a bad person," Arkin explains.
Barreto had to go through ten years and six different writers in
order to create the world of the Brazilian dictatoship’s censorship
and oppression.
"The dictatorship was heavily supported by the American
government at the time," explains Barreto, who finds the historical
background of the film very important. "That’s something that not a
lot of people know. So I think that the Oscar nomination enhances
and brings attention to a very important subject matter that I wish
there were more films made about."
Like Barreto, "Four Days" has a good mix of American and
Brazilian elements. The director has made four films here including
"Carried Away" and "A Show of Force."
"It’s significant that I got nominated because of the fact that
my career is pretty established here before ‘Four Days,’" Barreto
says. "Exactly because of that fact, the nomination is very
significant, that they already know me as a director that can make
films anywhere."
Though Barreto is still based in America, he has been reading
and hearing about what the nomination means to the Brazilian
people.
"It’s like the world cup," he says. "It’s like soccer."
Barreto says that after the Brazilian B team lost a soccer game
a couple of weeks ago, "the morale was very low and when the film
was nominated they said, ‘Oh yeah, we lost, but we got nominated.’
So, that’s the way a lof people feel in Brazil."
Since his eight year departure, Brazil has passed a tax shelter
law, allowing people to invest in feature film production as an
alternative to paying taxes. But with recent Brazilian political
and economical developments, Barreto’s film nomination may mean a
lot more.
"After what happened in Asia withthe collapse of the stock
market, Brazil is very fearful that this same thing can happen to
their economy so they’re slashing subsidies," Barreto explains.
"And the tax shelter is a subsidy, because the government is
saying, ‘Okay you don’t have to pay me. You can invest.’ So the law
got slashed 30 percent. They cut percent."
He continues, "And now there is a big motion in Congress to
actually end the law. If the law ends, the tax shelter law, feature
film production is going to stop again. So the nomination already
helps a lot but if the film wins the Oscar that will be validation
for the Brazilian film industry."
And if the film wins?
"If the film wins an Oscar that’s sort of the biggest validation
possible that a film industry could have," Barreto says. "It says,
‘Look, we’re being recognized abroad by the biggest award in the
world.’ And that could save the law."
FILM: Academy Award nominated film "Four Days In September" is
currently playing at the Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas in
Westside Pavilion.
Miramax Films
Director Bruno Barreto (left) with actor Alan Arkin on the set
of "Four Days in September."