João César Monteiro Santos (2 February 1939 – 3 February 2003) was a Portuguese film director, actor, writer and film critic. He is known for writing and directing films such as Recollections of the Yellow House (1989), God's Comedy (1995) and As Bodas de Deus (1999)
Life and career João César Monteiro was born into a family with anti-fascist and anti-clerical ideals. His family moved to Lisbon when Monteiro was 15 years old to enable him to continue his studies. In 1963, with a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Monteiro traveled to Great Britain to study at the London Film School (known then as the London School of Film Technique). In 1965 in Portugal, he began work on his first film, Quem Espera por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço (Who Waits for the Deceased's Shoes Dies Barefoot), which would not be finished for five years due to financial problems. At the same time, he made the short documentary "Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen", about the Portuguese poet. Monteiro also wrote film criticism for periodicals like Imagem, Diário de Lisboa and O Século.
His first feature film was Fragmentos de um Filme Esmola: A Sagrada Família (1972). In 1982 he made Silvestre an adaptation of traditional Portuguese folk stories. Silvestre was shown at the Venice Film Festival and was an important step in his international recognition. À Flor do Mar (1986), featuring Laura Morante, was shown at the Salsomaggiore Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Monteiro returned to the Venice Film Festival in 1989 with Recordações da Casa Amarela (Silver Lion), a film that marked the introduction of the character João de Deus. In 1992, he made O Último Mergulho, featuring Fabienne Babe.
A Comédia de Deus (Venice Film Festival, 1995), As Bodas de Deus (1999 Cannes Film Festival), Branca de Neve (Venice Film Festival, 2000) and Vai~E~Vem (Cannes Film Festival, 2003) were his last works. Branca de Neve (Snow White) was highly controversial because much of the film consists of a black screen, although a densely composed audio track plays throughout.
Style One of the most controversial Portuguese filmmakers of his generation, João César Monteiro marked his presence in cinema with unclassifiable and polemic films made with idiosyncratic and somewhat experimental aesthetics, and influenced by his work as a film critic and a poet. In some of his last films, he played a recurrent protagonist, João de Deus, a remarkably articulated and over-sexualized character whose customary attitudes involved spontaneous streaks of hedonism, scandal and satire.
Although a substantial portion of his work was received with perplexity and outrage by the average movie-going audience, he has been recognized by Portuguese and international critics and academicians as one of the most important Portuguese directors, along with Manoel de Oliveira.
Filmography
Feature films YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleNotes1972Fragments of an Alms-FilmFragmentos de um Filme-Esmola: A Sagrada Família1975What Shall I Do With This Sword?Que Farei eu com Esta Espada?1978TrailsVeredas1981Silvestre 1986Hovering Over the WaterÀ Flor do MarAlso actor1989Recollections of the Yellow HouseRecordações da Casa Amarela1992The Last DiveO Último Mergulho1995God's ComedyA Comédia de DeusAlso actor1997The Hips of J.W.Le Bassin de J.W.1999The Spousals of GodAs Bodas de Deus2000Snow WhiteBranca de Neve2003Come and GoVai e VemAlso actor
Short films YearEnglish TitleOriginal TitleNotes1970He Goes Long Barefoot That Waits For Dead Men’s ShoesQuem Espera por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço1978The Two SoldiersOs Dois Soldados1979The Love of the Three PomegranatesO Amor das Três RomãsThe MotherA Mãe: O Rico e o Pobre1990End of ConservationConserva AcabadaAlso actor1995Lettera amorosaBestiary, or the Parade of OrpheusO Bestiário ou o Cortejo de Orfeu1996A Walk with Johnny GuitarPasseio com Johnny Guitar
Documentary
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1969)
Only actor Amor de Perdição by Manoel de Oliveira (1979) A Estrangeira by João Mário Grilo (1983) Doc's Kingdom by Robert Kramer (1987) Relação Fiel e Verdadeira by Margarida Gil (1989) Paroles by Anne Benhaïem (1992) Rosa Negra by Margarida Gil (1992) La commedia di Dio by João César Monteiro (1995) Le Bassin de J.W. by João César Monteiro (1997) As Bodas de Deus by João César Monteiro (1999) Vai~E~Vem by João César Monteiro (2003)
Books Corpo Submerso (1959) Morituri te Salutant (1974) Le Bassin de John Wayne (1998) As Bodas de Deus (1998) Uma Semana Noutra Cidade (1999)
See also Jorge Ferreira Chaves
References
Further reading O Cais do Olhar by José de Matos-Cruz, Portuguese Cinematheque, 1999 Paulo Filipe Monteiro, "An Art in the Rough: The Cinema of João César Monteiro" in Impure Cinema by Lucia Nagib and Anne Jerslev. London and New York: I.B.Tauris, 2014
External links
Allmovie Autobiography João César Monteiro JCM e a Derradeira Imagem