Abstract
This chapter introduces the case of the Cine Centímetro, a 60-seat cinema in Conservatória, a town located in a rural area in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The Cine Centímetro was built in 2005 to be a replica of the Metro-Tijuca Cinema (1941–1977), one of the four cinemas that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) corporation operated in Brazil in the twentieth century. Based on an examination of the relations between theories of memory, cinemagoing studies and the history of cinema exhibition, this chapter aims to observe how this initiative has contributed to the revival of the bond between the MGM cinema and its visitors. What kind of local sociabilities, linked to the (re)construction of affective experiences, has this nostalgic and memorial place triggered in Conservatória?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
I gave this issue little space in my Master’s thesis. Later, I came back to the MGM’s replica case in a national conference and in my book A Segunda Cinelândia Carioca (Ferraz 2012) about Tijuca’s movie theatres in the twentieth century.
- 2.
The name is a pun on Metro, since, in Portuguese, the word ‘metro’ means ‘metre’ whereas ‘centímetro’ means ‘centimetre’.
- 3.
- 4.
In Brazil, there is a huge difference between cinemas situated on the urban sidewalks and cinemas situated within shopping malls. The Brazilian exhibition industry has been investing a lot in the installation of multiplex cinemas in shopping malls since the 1980s. That tendency usually acts to the detriment of the maintenance or construction of cinemas in the streets. So we must stress the distinction between these two examples of movie theatres to clarify the notions concerning cinema venues in Brazil. In this work, I adopt as synonyms expressions such as sidewalk cinemas and street-level cinemas, which work in contrast to the image of cinemas situated in private shopping centres, not in public space.
- 5.
- 6.
The paper ‘Small old film’ (1969) was published as a posthumous compilation of Paulo Emílio Salles texts. For more details, see Salles (1996).
- 7.
Francisco Serrador Carbonell designed the plan which originated Cinelândia in 1925. Located in the centre of Rio, this space has represented the biggest exhibition circuit in Rio de Janeiro, despite the crises and transformations of the local cinema industry (Gonzaga 1996). Cinelândia has been an important area in the city, where the Teatro Municipal (City Theatre) and Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) are situated, among other historic buildings. The Cinema Odeon, opened in 1932, is its last surviving movie palace.
- 8.
MGM also opened a cinema in São Paulo in 1938. In the 1970s, it became the property of the Cinema International Corporation (CIC), which divided it into two rooms. Film exhibition activities ended in 1997, and the building is now occupied by an evangelical church.
- 9.
Metro cinemas’ architectural projects in Brazil were designed by the Scottish architect Robert Prentice. However, it was Adalberto Szilard, a Hungarian architect from Prentice’s office, who designed the Metro-Tijuca cinema building in 1941. It was considered the most magnificent Metro cinema in Brazil by many cinemagoers at that time.
- 10.
Located in the city centre, the Cine Metro-Passeio was demolished in 1964, well before the closure of the other MGM cinemas in Rio de Janeiro. The Metro-Boavista Cinema was opened in 1969 but was not connected to MGM. It was closed in 1997.
- 11.
Ivo Raposo worked as a projectionist at the Santo Afonso Cinema, Tijuca, in the 1950s, when he was a boy. The cinema belonged to a Catholic church in the neighbourhood. He also worked in the projection cabin of another cinema in Tijuca, the Bruni Saens Peña Cinema.
- 12.
The Seresta is a typical popular and romantic song from Southeastern Brazil. It is very similar to the serenade, whose most common depiction is that of violinists, poets and troubadours singing along the streets in small towns.
- 13.
Cine Centímetro extends its activities during the Festival Cine Música, a music event that sometimes happens in Conservatória.
References
Allen, R. (2011). Reimagining the History of the Experience of Cinema in a Post-movie Going Age. In R. Maltby, D. Biltereyst, & P. Meers (Eds.), Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies (pp. 41–57). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Araújo, V. P. (1976). A bela época do cinema brasileiro. São Paulo: Perspectiva.
Biltereyst, D., Meers, P., & Maltby, R. (Eds.). (2012). Cinema, Audiences and Modernity: New Perspectives on European Cinema History. New York: Routledge.
Ferraz, T. (2012). A segunda Cinelândia carioca. Rio de Janeiro: Mórula.
Gama, R da. (1998). Salas de cinema art déco no Rio de Janeiro: a conquista de uma identidade arquitetônica (1928–1941). Masters diss., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Gonzaga, A. (1996). Palácios e Poeiras: 100 anos de cinema no Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Ministério da Cultura, Funarte, Record.
Hughes, S. P. (2011). Silent Film Genre, Exhibition and Audiences in South India. In R. Maltby, D. Biltereyst, & P. Meers (Eds.), Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies (pp. 295–309). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Huyssen, A. (2014). Culturas do passado-presente: modernismos, artes visuais, políticas da memória. Rio de Janeiro: Contracampo, MAR.
Kuhn, A. (2002). An Everyday Magic: Cinema and Cultural Memory. London: I.B. Tauris.
Kuhn, A. (2011). What to Do with Cinema Memory? In R. Maltby, D. Biltereyst, & P. Meers (Eds.), Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies (pp. 85–97). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Maltby, R. (2011). New Cinema Histories. In R. Maltby, D. Biltereyst, & P. Meers (Eds.), Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies (pp. 3–40). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Maltby, R., Biltereyst, D., & Meers, P. (Eds.). (2011). Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Niemeyer, K. (Ed.). (2014). Media and Nostalgia: Yearning for the Past, Present and Future. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nora, P. (1989). Between Memory and History: les lieux de mémoire. Representations, 26, 7–24.
Salles, P. E. (1996). Cinema trajetória no subdesenvolvimento. São Paulo: Paz e Terra.
Sevcenko, N. (1995). A capital irradiante: técnica, ritmos e ritos do Rio. In N. Sevcenko (Ed.), História da vida privada no Brasil: República, da Belle Époque à Era do Rádio (Vol. 3, pp. 513–619). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.
SIMIS, A. (1996). Estado e cinema no Brasil. São Paulo: Annablume.
Vieira, J. L., & Pereira, M. C. (1983). Espaços de sonho: cinema e arquitetura no Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Embrafilme.
Xavier, I. (1978). Sétima arte: um culto moderno. Rio de Janeiro: Perspectiva.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Ivo Raposo for sharing his rich and vivid personal memories.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ferraz, T. (2018). Cine Centímetro: Memories and Cinemagoing Practices in an MGM Replica Cinema in the Rio de Janeiro Countryside. In: Treveri Gennari, D., Hipkins, D., O'Rawe, C. (eds) Rural Cinema Exhibition and Audiences in a Global Context. Global Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66344-9_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66344-9_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66343-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66344-9
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)