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An interview with Brazilian producer/director Andre Klotzel by film critic Lalit Rao

André Klotzel (São Paulo, 1954) is a Brazilian film director, producer. He studied cinema at university of Sao Paolo and worked on around ten feature and short films before directing his début feature "A Marvada Carne".His film production company Superfilmes was founded in 1983.He works as a producer for Bras Filmes.

Lalit Rao conducted this interview with Brazilian Filmmaker André Klotzel when he attended 7th International Film Festival of Kerala,2002

LALIT RAO:How did you get into Cinema ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL:I got into Cinema because of my father. I was very much interested in photography. Ever since I was a young boy,he taught me photography. I got hooked to itI always wanted to be a movie photographer. Later I got into a film school. From the 1st year ,I started making films. I made a lot of “small Bollywood” kind of low budget films which had links to the market. This phenomenon doesn’t exist any more.It was in 1970s.I began working as a technician, production assistant, camera assistant and then assistant director. I made short films in Film School. After 10 years of my Film School ,I made my first film.

LALIT RAO: Could you please tell us more about Brazilian politics and military rule especially the way it influenced Brazilian Cinema ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL:I think that answering this question is a task of a journalist. It is a question of theory. There were two phases of films made under military rule. In the 1st phase films were made under strict censorship and control. Those were the classics.1970 was the period of underground films and “Cinema Novo”. Embrafilme the film company was owned by the state. Military government had nationalistic approach to movies. From 1974 onwards military government began to offer more liberty and there was less censorship. Military government gradually opened the path towards democracy.

LALIT RAO: What is the response of Brazilian society to various aspects of culture such as Cinema, Music, Theatre, Literature etc ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL: Brazilian Society is a complex society like any other society in the world could be. It is a society full of contradictions. You must view Brazilian Society as how the society as a whole gives one response. There are many responses. It is a dynamic process. If you classify Brazilian society as onesided, it is a pessimistic outlook. Many things don’t have a special character. They have emerged on global way of thinking. There is no originality. That is precisely what I would call sub culture. In Brazil we had Global approach in massive way but not without contradictions.

LALIT RAO: Which filmmakers have influenced you the most ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL: Well, there have been quite many of them. I always remember clearly one film “Macunaima” made by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade. I have also been tremendously influenced by many other films of Nelson Pereira Dos Santos who is considered as Brazil's master of Cinema Novo, with whom I worked as an assistant especially a film called “O amuleto de ogum ” (THE AMULET OF OGUM).It is not considered to be the most important film made by Nelson Pereira Dos Santos. I was in film school when I first saw it. It was very important for me.

LALIT RAO: Could you please explain the use of illustrations in your film “Memorias Postumas”?

ANDRE KLOTZEL: They have been used for remembrance, a feeling of Nostalgia. They have a descriptive meaning and fit very well with the music. The illustrations radiate the ambiance and the feelings of the time.

LALIT RAO: Why does Bras Cubas’ mother say that Life is a lottery?

ANDRE KLOTZEL:It is a part of jokes. Such kind of hilarious things can only be expected from Bras Cubas. Even his father says that with 2 lottery tickets you have a better chance. Among many other elements there is an essential element of irony and joke in his sayings.

LALIT RAO: How do you explain the fact that “Memorias Postumas” moves at a very leisurely pace ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL: I told everyone linked to the film that it should be done on a small level. Nobody talked loud on the sets. Everybody could still hear the things that were said. The images didn’t shout. It was as if the entire film was whispering. I wanted that it had to whisper. Even the sound was kept softer to get intimate feeling.

LALIT RAO:Was “Memorias Postumas” a difficult book to transform into a film ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL:It is not just any other book. It is a classic of Brazilian Literature. “Memorias Postumas” was written by Machado de Assis. It is considered as the best Brazilian literary oeuvre of all times. It is making more than an adaptation. It is like Shakespeare who did Hamlet. You can do many versions of it.I read “Memorias Postumas” for the first time at the age of 14 when I was in high school. I felt that I should read it again and immediately thought of making a film out of it. I quickly wrote a version of the film and the first feeling was very authentic. People liked it very well. If you take it you should know its institutional value. It will have other kinds of pressure. I always knew that I would feel all kinds hassles. The feeling at the top of my mind was that let me carry through and not worry about anything. Everyone told me that my Film version was very much faithful to the book, if not like the book. Sometimes you have to relate to the movie and faithful means changing. I chose to represent the book in a faithful way. I deemed that if my motivations were correct it should be as good as it should be.

LALIT RAO:“Memorias Postumas” has been a completely different film from your previous two films. How would you explain this change of style ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL:I am not very much worried about the concept of style. What I like to do is to make a film different from the others. If there is a style it would surely come. Style is something you are not very much aware of or can manipulate. It happens the way it should be. You cannot have style beforehand. I don’t like the obligation of a certain kind of film. I like different kinds of films. People ask me what kind of genre do I prefer. I don’t prefer a particular kind of genre. As I like cinema I like the possibility of trying to do different things. I like to do many things but I am not capable of doing every one of them because of my style. That is the style.

LALIT RAO: What kind of audience are you aiming at when you make your films ?

ANDRE KLOTZEL: The audience I aim is Brazilian audience. But I still feel that if a film is good in Brazil it can be good anywhere in the world. When I make films I make them my own way, I forget the audience as I am the audience. I make the kind of films I myself personally would like to see.

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