Fernanda Montenegro
Encyclopedia
Fernanda Montenegro is a Brazilian stage, television and film actress, mostly recognized for her leading role in Central Station, which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
, becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated.
She is commonly revered as one of Brazil's finest actresses and referred to as "The First Lady of Brazilian Theater" and "The First Lady of Brazilian Television".
, of Portuguese
and Italian descent. Regarding the adoption of a stage name, the actress has stated that she chose Fernanda simply because of its sonority, whilst Montenegro was the surname of her family's doctor. Montenegro was married to Fernando Torres
from 1954 until his death in 2008. They had two children: Fernanda Torres who is an actress and has been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival
and film director Cláudio Torres.
, who would soon become her husband. In the next years she worked with other acclaimed actors like Sérgio Britto, Cacilda Becker, Nathalia Timberg, Cláudio Correa e Castro and Ítalo Rossi.
In 1951 she become one of the TV's pioneers in Brazil, working in Rio de Janeiro
's TV Tupi - the second TV station of South America. She played in several plays on TV between 1951 and 1970.
Moving to São Paulo
in the early 1960s, Montenegro initially worked solely on theatre. In 1963 she take her first role in a telenovela
(soap opera
), "Pouco Amor Não é Amor". A succession of notable telenovela's roles followed, mainly her performances in the ensemble piece "A Muralha" (1968), based on the novel by celebrated Brazilian author Dinah Silveira de Queiroz, and "Sangue do Meu Sangue" (1969), a memorable melodrama engraved in Brazilian pop culture, whose stellar cast featured not only Montenegro, but other theatre's stars like Sérgio Britto, Cláudio Correa e Castro, Francisco Cuoco, Nicete Bruno and Tônia Carrero.
Throughout the 1970s Montenegro moved away from television, rather focusing on her theatre and film career. Still, a televised performance in Euripides’ classic play Medea
, in 1973, was lauded by reviewers. It was only in the very late 1970s that Montenegro would once again engage in a substantial television effort, with "Cara a Cara" (1979), for which she won the Best Actress in Television Award by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.
The 1980s marked Montenegro's return to television in full force. She appeared in telenovelas such as "Baila Comigo" (1981), "Brilhante" (1982) and "Cambalacho" (1986), and struck a massive hit with "Guerra dos Sexos" (1983), a light-hearted comedy about the constant bickering men and women experience in different stages of romantic relationships. In the latter, Montenegro once again left a significant impression in Brazilian pop culture, starring in a now-immortalized food fight scene, opposite Paulo Autran
. Throughout this decade, Montenegro won her second and third Best Actress in Television Awards, by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics, for her work in "Brilhante" and "Guerra dos Sexos".
The early 1990s proved once again to be a time of success in television for Montenegro, as she took on roles in two other smash hits, the popular primetime telenovelas "Rainha da Sucata" (1990) and "O Dono do Mundo" (1991), both Brazilian pop culture favorites. Years later, she once again gained artistic distinction, appearing on the critically acclaimed mini-series "Incidente em Antares" (1994), an adaptation of the book by one of Brazilian Literature's greatest novelists, Érico Veríssimo
.
In 1997, Montenegro's string of critical and audience triumphs came to an abrupt halt as her portrayal of the lead role in the telenovela "Zazá", a much anticipated return to comedy, couldn’t live up to either reviewers' or the viewing public's expectations. After a series of changes in attempt to salvage it from absolute failure, still facing overall rejection, the show was cut short and quickly wrapped. Despite its being a considerable letdown, "Zazá" was soon eclipsed by the monumental success Montenegro's film career witnessed with the release of Central Station.
In spite of a successful minor appearance as the Madonna
in the mini-series "O Auto da Compadecida" (1999), later re-cut into a theatrical film (internationally known as "A Dog's Will"), Montenegro's television career struggled in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2001, another attempt was made in telenovela comedy with "As Filhas da Mãe", which covered the backstage of Brazilian Fashion Industry. Short of a celebrated scene, early on, which featured Montenegro's character winning an Oscar
, the telenovela was, once more, a flop. Lackluster ratings and overall negative reviews led to its swift cancellation. Nevertheless, Montenegro still managed to be nominated as Best Actress in the Contigo Awards, which laureates excellence in Brazilian telenovelas.
The following year, Montenegro shifted towards primetime drama, opting for a minor role in the first stage of the telenovela "Esperança" (2002). Although Montenegro herself earned positive reviews, "Esperança" was a major failure, generally panned by critics and despised by audiences, setting a record for an all-time low in ratings for a primetime telenovela televised by TV Globo
, the broadcasting channel of Brazil's most powerful telecommunications conglomerate. Due to Montenegro's continued success in film, as well as her status as one of the most cherished artists and personalities in Brazil, these disappointments tended to be minimized, often regarded as minor blots in an extended résumé of significant successes.
Montenegro returned to television's good graces in a supporting role as the exploitive stepmother of the lead character in the ensemble piece mini-series "Hoje é Dia de Maria" (2005), a coming-of-age tale set in a fantasy world, positively reviewed for its inventiveness, its stunning art direction and overall production design, as well as its acting. Montenegro scored her second nomination as Best Actress in the Contigo Awards, while the mini-series garnered two nominations for the Primetime International Emmy Awards and won the Grand Prize of the Critics of the São Paulo Association of Art Critics Award.
The following year, Montenegro returned to primetime drama, taking on the female lead role in "Belíssima" (2006), which also offered a backstage view to Brazilian Fashion Industry, only in a much more earnest and cruel perspective than in her previous work "As Filhas da Mãe" (2001). Starring as the shrewd calculating villainess, Bia Falcão, Montenegro was applauded by critics and audiences alike, delivering a solid, sophisticated performance while handling an unapologetic, uncharismatic character, whose story twist was pivotal to the development of the main plot. For this portrayal, Montenegro finally won her first Contigo Award for Best Actress, and also her fourth Best Actress in Television Award by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.
Following her streak of well-received roles, Montenegro returned to television in 2008, taking a supporting role, as Dona Iraci, in the critically and publicly acclaimed primetime mini-Series "Queridos Amigos", based on the book "Aos Amigos", by Portuguese
novelist Maria Adelaide Amaral, an ensemble piece that tells a fictional reconstitution of personal experiences of Amaral and a group of close friends, set during a moment of political turbulance in the Brazilian transition from a military dictatorship to a democratic regime.
Throughout the decades, several successful roles emerged on television, as well as theatre, for which Montenegro earned a series of distinctions and accolades. Often cited for her wide acting range, as well as for the consistency in delivering top quality performances, Montenegro quickly emerged as a favorite amongst critics and audiences, eventually receiving the title of "The First Lady of Brazilian Theatre".
, and earned its female lead, amongst positive reviews, her first distinction as a film actress, as Montenegro won the Candango Trophy as Best Actress in the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema.
Throughout the 1970s, Montenegro was featured in a series of other movies, but none seemed to match the degree of acclaim as her debut, until, in 1978, she starred as Elvira Barata, opposite Paulo Gracindo, in Arnaldo Jabor
's Tudo Bem (internationally known as Everything's Alright). The movie earned positive reviews, eventually winning the top prize at the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema, taking the Candango Trophy for Best Film. Although receiving considerable appraisal, Montenegro's performance missed any major awards.
As her next big screen role, in 1981, Montenegro starred as Romana in (internationally known as They Don't Wear Black Tie), based on a play by the late Gianfrancesco Guarnieri
, who was also her co-star in the movie. The movie proved to be a big domestic hit, earning Guarnieri the Award as Best Actor in Film by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics, and, most significantly, a movie of international notice, landing major awards in film festivals all around the world, including the Grand Coral First Prize in the Havana Film Festival, as well as the Grand Jury Special Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize in the Venice Film Festival.
Focusing in television during the 1980s, Montenegro's film exposure was limited throughout the remaining of the decade, but she still participated in a minor role as Carlota, a religious practitioner of Umbanda
(a syncretic belief system very popular in Brazil), in 1985's A Hora da Estrela (internationally known as Hour of the Star
), a movie that was lauded by critics both domestically — snatching six Candango Trophies in the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema, including Best Film, Director, Actor (José Dumont
) and Actress (Marcélia Cartaxo) and, internationally, earning the Grand Coral First Prize in the Havana Film Festival, as well as three major awards in the Berlin Film Festival: the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas Award, the OCIC Award and the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress (awarded to fellow co-star Marcélia Cartaxo).
Montenegro's film career hiatus would only be broken in 1994, emerging in a segment titled "Samba do Grande Amor" of the film Veja Esta Canção (internationally known as Rio's Love Song), which garnered its director Carlos "Cacá" Diegues
a Best Director Award in the Havana Film Festival. She then moved, in 1997, to a small appearance in O Que é Isso, Companheiro? (internationally known as Four Days in September
), which starred American actor Alan Arkin
and chronicled the kidnapping of American consul Charles Burke Elbrick
by rebellious political activists who opposed the military dictatorship in Brazil, based on the memoirs of Brazilian politician Fernando Gabeira
. The movie had significant international repercussion, welcoming nominations to the Golden Bear in the Berlin International Film Festival
and to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
. In 1983 Montenegro won Best Actress award in the Cannes Film Festival
for Love Me Forever or Never
.
Successively, many other honors were bestowed upon the film, as it won five awards at the Havana Film Festival
, including the Special Jury Prize and the Best Actress Award to Montenegro, as well as several other prizes for Best Foreign Film, including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe
, awards by the Argentine Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review, the San Sebastián International Film Festival
, the Spain Film Critics Association, the Spain Cinema Writers Circle and the Satellite Awards, among others. Other high profile Best Foreign Film nominations included the César Award
, the Independent Spirit Award, and an Academy Award nomination as Best Film in a Foreign Language
.
Montenegro herself was honored on numerous occasions, earning additional Best Actress awards from the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
, among others. She was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award, for a Golden Globe
and for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
, a feat which gave Montenegro the distinction of being the first (Brazilian and) Latin American actress ever to be bestowed with such an honor by the Academy
. She is also the only person nominated so far for a performance in the Portuguese language.
, and starred by her own daughter, Fernanda Torres
. The film fared relatively well domestically, earning Torres a Candango Trophy for Best Actress in the Brasília Festival of Brazilian Cinema and a nomination for Best Actress in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, but failed to gain any substantial recognition internationally. In 2000, the celebrated television mini-series "O Auto da Compadecida", in which Montenegro appeared as the Holy Mary, was re-cut into a film of same title (internationally known as A Dog's Will) and released to movie theaters to significantly appreciative domestic appraisal. It eventually won four awards at the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, including Best Director, Best Actor (Matheus Nachtergaele
) and Best Screenplay (surprisingly, it lost the Best Picture award), but also failed to launch a noteworthy international career.
In 2004, Montenegro's film career was once again in full force. She returned to the Berlin Film Festival with O Outro Lado da Rua (internationally known as The Other Side of the Street
), which landed stellar reviews and garnered the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas Award. Montenegro herself was also honored, winning the Horizons Award in the San Sebastian International Film Festival
and the Best Actress Award in the Tribeca Film Festival
. Domestically, the film also fared well, landing six nominations to the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, with Montenegro winning the Best Actress award.
The same year, she also took a supporting role in Redentor (internationally known as Redeemer), directed by her son, Cláudio Torres, and co-starred by her usband Fernando Torres
. The movie proved to be a smash hit domestically, earning rave reviews and scoring nine nominations in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize (winning one for Best Director), but failed to produce an expressive splash internationally. Still in 2004, Montenegro once again landed a supporting role, playing Leocádia Prestes, mother of Brazilian communist leader Luiz Carlos Prestes, and mother-in-law of Jewish-German socialist revolutionary Olga Benário in the biopic Olga
, based on the book by Brazilian biographer Fernando Morais. The movie was received with mixed reviews by critics, often praised for its technical merits (mainly its cinematography, make-up art, costume design and art direction) and panned for its narrative and directing choices. It still fared strongly in the box-office, though, and scored nine nominations in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, earning three technical awards (Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up). "Olga" was also chosen, eventually, as the film to represent Brazil in the Oscar race in pursuit of a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not make it to the final five nominees.
The following year of 2005 saw Montenegro's return to lead, as she took on three different roles in the feminist epic saga Casa de Areia (internationally known as The House of Sand
), opposite her own daughter, Fernanda Torres, with whom she alternated the same roles. The movie had a strong display domestically, earning rave reviews and special distinction to Montenegro's performance. It garnered 12 nominations to the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize (including Best Actress for Montenegro), earning three technical awards (the same as "Olga"). The movie displayed the potential to develop an international career, as it earned two nominations to the Satellite Awards and earned an Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize in the Sundance Film Festival, but its campaign was crippled when Brazilian critics turned their support to Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (internationally known as Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
), choosing it to represent Brazil in the Oscar race.
Late 2006, Montenegro garnered attention for leading a movement of film artists and investors who firmly opposed a Congressional Bill that reduced federal incentives in cultural programmes, reallocating such funds to public investments in the fields of sports and leisure. On December 14, 2006, Montenegro directly addressed the Brazilian Senate, strongly criticizing the legislation and famously asserting "Culture is, above all, a social need. It is not a frivolity." For such deeds, as well as her overall career in film, Montenegro earned, in 2007, in the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, an Honorary Award, as a Latin American Character of the Culture. Also in 2007, Montenegro played Tránsito Ariza, in Love in the Time of Cholera
, an adaptation of the novel by the winner of the Nobel Prize
of Literature, Gabriel García Marquez
. Albeit a minor role, it marked Montenegro's first performance in an English language spoken feature. The movie debuted to mainly poor reviews, but none focused on Montenegro's acting.
Nominations:
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated.
She is commonly revered as one of Brazil's finest actresses and referred to as "The First Lady of Brazilian Theater" and "The First Lady of Brazilian Television".
Personal life
Montenegro was born Arlete Pinheiro Esteves da Silva in Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, of Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Italian descent. Regarding the adoption of a stage name, the actress has stated that she chose Fernanda simply because of its sonority, whilst Montenegro was the surname of her family's doctor. Montenegro was married to Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres (actor)
Fernando Torres was a Brazilian actor and voice-over artist, as well as a television, film and theater director and producer. Torres' career in Brazilian film, stage and television spanned over five decades...
from 1954 until his death in 2008. They had two children: Fernanda Torres who is an actress and has been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and film director Cláudio Torres.
Stage and television career
In late 1940s, Montenegro was adapting famous theatre plays to radio. She began her artistic life in the theatre with the play Alegres Canções nas Montanhas (Happy Songs on the Mountain) in 1950. Among her mates was Fernando TorresFernando Torres (actor)
Fernando Torres was a Brazilian actor and voice-over artist, as well as a television, film and theater director and producer. Torres' career in Brazilian film, stage and television spanned over five decades...
, who would soon become her husband. In the next years she worked with other acclaimed actors like Sérgio Britto, Cacilda Becker, Nathalia Timberg, Cláudio Correa e Castro and Ítalo Rossi.
In 1951 she become one of the TV's pioneers in Brazil, working in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
's TV Tupi - the second TV station of South America. She played in several plays on TV between 1951 and 1970.
Moving to São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
in the early 1960s, Montenegro initially worked solely on theatre. In 1963 she take her first role in a telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
(soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
), "Pouco Amor Não é Amor". A succession of notable telenovela's roles followed, mainly her performances in the ensemble piece "A Muralha" (1968), based on the novel by celebrated Brazilian author Dinah Silveira de Queiroz, and "Sangue do Meu Sangue" (1969), a memorable melodrama engraved in Brazilian pop culture, whose stellar cast featured not only Montenegro, but other theatre's stars like Sérgio Britto, Cláudio Correa e Castro, Francisco Cuoco, Nicete Bruno and Tônia Carrero.
Throughout the 1970s Montenegro moved away from television, rather focusing on her theatre and film career. Still, a televised performance in Euripides’ classic play Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
, in 1973, was lauded by reviewers. It was only in the very late 1970s that Montenegro would once again engage in a substantial television effort, with "Cara a Cara" (1979), for which she won the Best Actress in Television Award by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.
The 1980s marked Montenegro's return to television in full force. She appeared in telenovelas such as "Baila Comigo" (1981), "Brilhante" (1982) and "Cambalacho" (1986), and struck a massive hit with "Guerra dos Sexos" (1983), a light-hearted comedy about the constant bickering men and women experience in different stages of romantic relationships. In the latter, Montenegro once again left a significant impression in Brazilian pop culture, starring in a now-immortalized food fight scene, opposite Paulo Autran
Paulo Autran
Paulo Autran was a Brazilian film and theater actor. His accomplishments during his life earned him the nickname, "Lord of the Stage."-Biography:...
. Throughout this decade, Montenegro won her second and third Best Actress in Television Awards, by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics, for her work in "Brilhante" and "Guerra dos Sexos".
The early 1990s proved once again to be a time of success in television for Montenegro, as she took on roles in two other smash hits, the popular primetime telenovelas "Rainha da Sucata" (1990) and "O Dono do Mundo" (1991), both Brazilian pop culture favorites. Years later, she once again gained artistic distinction, appearing on the critically acclaimed mini-series "Incidente em Antares" (1994), an adaptation of the book by one of Brazilian Literature's greatest novelists, Érico Veríssimo
Erico Verissimo
Erico Verissimo was an important Brazilian writer, born in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. His father, Sebastião Veríssimo da Fonseca, heir of a rich family in Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, met financial ruin during his son's youth...
.
In 1997, Montenegro's string of critical and audience triumphs came to an abrupt halt as her portrayal of the lead role in the telenovela "Zazá", a much anticipated return to comedy, couldn’t live up to either reviewers' or the viewing public's expectations. After a series of changes in attempt to salvage it from absolute failure, still facing overall rejection, the show was cut short and quickly wrapped. Despite its being a considerable letdown, "Zazá" was soon eclipsed by the monumental success Montenegro's film career witnessed with the release of Central Station.
In spite of a successful minor appearance as the Madonna
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
in the mini-series "O Auto da Compadecida" (1999), later re-cut into a theatrical film (internationally known as "A Dog's Will"), Montenegro's television career struggled in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2001, another attempt was made in telenovela comedy with "As Filhas da Mãe", which covered the backstage of Brazilian Fashion Industry. Short of a celebrated scene, early on, which featured Montenegro's character winning an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, the telenovela was, once more, a flop. Lackluster ratings and overall negative reviews led to its swift cancellation. Nevertheless, Montenegro still managed to be nominated as Best Actress in the Contigo Awards, which laureates excellence in Brazilian telenovelas.
The following year, Montenegro shifted towards primetime drama, opting for a minor role in the first stage of the telenovela "Esperança" (2002). Although Montenegro herself earned positive reviews, "Esperança" was a major failure, generally panned by critics and despised by audiences, setting a record for an all-time low in ratings for a primetime telenovela televised by TV Globo
Rede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
, the broadcasting channel of Brazil's most powerful telecommunications conglomerate. Due to Montenegro's continued success in film, as well as her status as one of the most cherished artists and personalities in Brazil, these disappointments tended to be minimized, often regarded as minor blots in an extended résumé of significant successes.
Montenegro returned to television's good graces in a supporting role as the exploitive stepmother of the lead character in the ensemble piece mini-series "Hoje é Dia de Maria" (2005), a coming-of-age tale set in a fantasy world, positively reviewed for its inventiveness, its stunning art direction and overall production design, as well as its acting. Montenegro scored her second nomination as Best Actress in the Contigo Awards, while the mini-series garnered two nominations for the Primetime International Emmy Awards and won the Grand Prize of the Critics of the São Paulo Association of Art Critics Award.
The following year, Montenegro returned to primetime drama, taking on the female lead role in "Belíssima" (2006), which also offered a backstage view to Brazilian Fashion Industry, only in a much more earnest and cruel perspective than in her previous work "As Filhas da Mãe" (2001). Starring as the shrewd calculating villainess, Bia Falcão, Montenegro was applauded by critics and audiences alike, delivering a solid, sophisticated performance while handling an unapologetic, uncharismatic character, whose story twist was pivotal to the development of the main plot. For this portrayal, Montenegro finally won her first Contigo Award for Best Actress, and also her fourth Best Actress in Television Award by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.
Following her streak of well-received roles, Montenegro returned to television in 2008, taking a supporting role, as Dona Iraci, in the critically and publicly acclaimed primetime mini-Series "Queridos Amigos", based on the book "Aos Amigos", by Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
novelist Maria Adelaide Amaral, an ensemble piece that tells a fictional reconstitution of personal experiences of Amaral and a group of close friends, set during a moment of political turbulance in the Brazilian transition from a military dictatorship to a democratic regime.
Throughout the decades, several successful roles emerged on television, as well as theatre, for which Montenegro earned a series of distinctions and accolades. Often cited for her wide acting range, as well as for the consistency in delivering top quality performances, Montenegro quickly emerged as a favorite amongst critics and audiences, eventually receiving the title of "The First Lady of Brazilian Theatre".
Film career
Montenegro's film career was launched in the mid-1960s. Her debut came in 1965, as Zulmira, in the movie A Falecida (internationally known as The Death and released in the U.S. as The Deceased). The film was a cinematic adaptation of the play, by the greatest of Brazilian dramatists, Nélson RodriguesNélson Rodrigues
Nelson Falcão Rodrigues was a Brazilian playwright, journalist and novelist. In 1943, he helped usher in a new era in Brazilian theater with his play Vestido de Noiva , considered revolutionary for the complex exploration of its characters' psychology and its use of colloquial dialog...
, and earned its female lead, amongst positive reviews, her first distinction as a film actress, as Montenegro won the Candango Trophy as Best Actress in the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema.
Throughout the 1970s, Montenegro was featured in a series of other movies, but none seemed to match the degree of acclaim as her debut, until, in 1978, she starred as Elvira Barata, opposite Paulo Gracindo, in Arnaldo Jabor
Arnaldo Jabor
Arnaldo Jabor is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed nine films between 1965 and 1990. His 1973 film Toda Nudez Será Castigada won the Silver Bear at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival....
's Tudo Bem (internationally known as Everything's Alright). The movie earned positive reviews, eventually winning the top prize at the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema, taking the Candango Trophy for Best Film. Although receiving considerable appraisal, Montenegro's performance missed any major awards.
As her next big screen role, in 1981, Montenegro starred as Romana in (internationally known as They Don't Wear Black Tie), based on a play by the late Gianfrancesco Guarnieri
Gianfrancesco Guarnieri
Gianfrancesco Sigfrido Benedetto Marinenghi de Guarnieri was a Brazilian actor and playwright.- External links :...
, who was also her co-star in the movie. The movie proved to be a big domestic hit, earning Guarnieri the Award as Best Actor in Film by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics, and, most significantly, a movie of international notice, landing major awards in film festivals all around the world, including the Grand Coral First Prize in the Havana Film Festival, as well as the Grand Jury Special Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize in the Venice Film Festival.
Focusing in television during the 1980s, Montenegro's film exposure was limited throughout the remaining of the decade, but she still participated in a minor role as Carlota, a religious practitioner of Umbanda
Umbanda
Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with Catholicism, Spiritism and Kardecism, and considerable indigenous lore....
(a syncretic belief system very popular in Brazil), in 1985's A Hora da Estrela (internationally known as Hour of the Star
Hour of the Star
Hour of the Star is a Brazilian film directed by Suzana Amaral and released in 1985. The film is an adaptation of a book by Clarice Lispector with the same name...
), a movie that was lauded by critics both domestically — snatching six Candango Trophies in the Brasilia Festival of Brazilian Cinema, including Best Film, Director, Actor (José Dumont
José Dumont
José Dumont is a Brazilian TV and movie actor, best known for his role as the family father in Behind the Sun , an award-winning film of director Walter Salles...
) and Actress (Marcélia Cartaxo) and, internationally, earning the Grand Coral First Prize in the Havana Film Festival, as well as three major awards in the Berlin Film Festival: the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas Award, the OCIC Award and the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress (awarded to fellow co-star Marcélia Cartaxo).
Montenegro's film career hiatus would only be broken in 1994, emerging in a segment titled "Samba do Grande Amor" of the film Veja Esta Canção (internationally known as Rio's Love Song), which garnered its director Carlos "Cacá" Diegues
Carlos Diegues
Carlos Diegues, also known as Cacá Diegues, is a Brazilian film director. He is best known as a member of the Cinema Novo movement.-Filmography:* 2010 O Grande Circo Místico...
a Best Director Award in the Havana Film Festival. She then moved, in 1997, to a small appearance in O Que é Isso, Companheiro? (internationally known as Four Days in September
Four Days in September
Four Days in September is a 1997 Brazilian thriller film directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents Lucy and Luiz Carlos Barreto. The film is based on the 1979 memoir "O Que É Isso Companheiro?" written by politician Fernando Gabeira...
), which starred American actor Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
and chronicled the kidnapping of American consul Charles Burke Elbrick
Charles Burke Elbrick
Charles Burke Elbrick, , was a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. During his career, he served three ambassadorships in various parts of the world, in addition to many other minor postings.Elbrick was the son of Charles Elbrick and his Irish wife, Lillian Burke...
by rebellious political activists who opposed the military dictatorship in Brazil, based on the memoirs of Brazilian politician Fernando Gabeira
Fernando Gabeira
Fernando Paulo Nagle Gabeira is a Brazilian politician, author and journalist. He has been a federal deputy for the State of Rio de Janeiro since 1995....
. The movie had significant international repercussion, welcoming nominations to the Golden Bear in the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. In 1983 Montenegro won Best Actress award in the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
for Love Me Forever or Never
Love Me Forever or Never
Love Me Forever or Never is a 1986 Brazilian drama film directed by Arnaldo Jabor. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival where Fernanda Torres won the award for Best Actress....
.
Central do Brasil
In 1998, Montenegro delivered the performance of a career, starring in Central do Brasil (internationally known as Central Station), as Dora. The movie fared well domestically, winning four awards by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (including Best Film, Director and Actress in Film — Montenegro's first, after winning thrice for her television career), and achieved international acclaim unprecedented for any Brazilian film. Central Station debuted to undisputed praise in the Berlin Film Festival, eventually earning three of its major awards: The Golden Berlin Bear for Best Film, the Special Prize by the Ecumenical Jury and the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress for Montenegro.Successively, many other honors were bestowed upon the film, as it won five awards at the Havana Film Festival
Havana Film Festival
The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Spanish-language filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, and in English as Festival of New Latinamerican Cinema of La Havana.The festival takes place...
, including the Special Jury Prize and the Best Actress Award to Montenegro, as well as several other prizes for Best Foreign Film, including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
, awards by the Argentine Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review, the San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
, the Spain Film Critics Association, the Spain Cinema Writers Circle and the Satellite Awards, among others. Other high profile Best Foreign Film nominations included the César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
, the Independent Spirit Award, and an Academy Award nomination as Best Film in a Foreign Language
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Montenegro herself was honored on numerous occasions, earning additional Best Actress awards from the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
, among others. She was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award, for a Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
and for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, a feat which gave Montenegro the distinction of being the first (Brazilian and) Latin American actress ever to be bestowed with such an honor by the Academy
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. She is also the only person nominated so far for a performance in the Portuguese language.
The last decade
Montenegro's follow-up to Central Station marked her return to the work of Nélson Rodrigues, as she took on a supporting role in 1999's "Gêmeas", directed by her own son-in-law, Andrucha WaddingtonAndrucha Waddington
Andrucha Waddington is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. He has directed eleven films since 1998. His film Eu Tu Eles was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:...
, and starred by her own daughter, Fernanda Torres
Fernanda Torres
Fernanda Pinheiro Monteiro Torres is a Brazilian movie, theatre and television actress. She is the daughter of the Oscar-nominated actress Fernanda Montenegro and the actor Fernando Torres....
. The film fared relatively well domestically, earning Torres a Candango Trophy for Best Actress in the Brasília Festival of Brazilian Cinema and a nomination for Best Actress in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, but failed to gain any substantial recognition internationally. In 2000, the celebrated television mini-series "O Auto da Compadecida", in which Montenegro appeared as the Holy Mary, was re-cut into a film of same title (internationally known as A Dog's Will) and released to movie theaters to significantly appreciative domestic appraisal. It eventually won four awards at the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, including Best Director, Best Actor (Matheus Nachtergaele
Matheus Nachtergaele
Matheus Nachtergaele is a Brazilian actor and director. He has starred in numerous Brazilian films and television programmes but is probably most well known for his appearance in the 2002 film Cidade de Deus , playing the part of Carrot Sandro...
) and Best Screenplay (surprisingly, it lost the Best Picture award), but also failed to launch a noteworthy international career.
In 2004, Montenegro's film career was once again in full force. She returned to the Berlin Film Festival with O Outro Lado da Rua (internationally known as The Other Side of the Street
The Other Side of the Street
The Other Side of The Street or O outro lado da rua is a Brazilian film written and directed by Marcos Bernstein and released in 2004...
), which landed stellar reviews and garnered the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas Award. Montenegro herself was also honored, winning the Horizons Award in the San Sebastian International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
and the Best Actress Award in the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
. Domestically, the film also fared well, landing six nominations to the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, with Montenegro winning the Best Actress award.
The same year, she also took a supporting role in Redentor (internationally known as Redeemer), directed by her son, Cláudio Torres, and co-starred by her usband Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres (actor)
Fernando Torres was a Brazilian actor and voice-over artist, as well as a television, film and theater director and producer. Torres' career in Brazilian film, stage and television spanned over five decades...
. The movie proved to be a smash hit domestically, earning rave reviews and scoring nine nominations in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize (winning one for Best Director), but failed to produce an expressive splash internationally. Still in 2004, Montenegro once again landed a supporting role, playing Leocádia Prestes, mother of Brazilian communist leader Luiz Carlos Prestes, and mother-in-law of Jewish-German socialist revolutionary Olga Benário in the biopic Olga
Olga (film)
Olga is a 2004 Brazilian film directed by Jayme Monjardim. It was Brazil's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Sinopsys:...
, based on the book by Brazilian biographer Fernando Morais. The movie was received with mixed reviews by critics, often praised for its technical merits (mainly its cinematography, make-up art, costume design and art direction) and panned for its narrative and directing choices. It still fared strongly in the box-office, though, and scored nine nominations in the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, earning three technical awards (Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up). "Olga" was also chosen, eventually, as the film to represent Brazil in the Oscar race in pursuit of a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not make it to the final five nominees.
The following year of 2005 saw Montenegro's return to lead, as she took on three different roles in the feminist epic saga Casa de Areia (internationally known as The House of Sand
The House of Sand
The House of Sand is a 2005 Brazilian film directed by Andrucha Waddington. It stars real life mother and daughter Fernanda Montenegro and Fernanda Torres...
), opposite her own daughter, Fernanda Torres, with whom she alternated the same roles. The movie had a strong display domestically, earning rave reviews and special distinction to Montenegro's performance. It garnered 12 nominations to the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize (including Best Actress for Montenegro), earning three technical awards (the same as "Olga"). The movie displayed the potential to develop an international career, as it earned two nominations to the Satellite Awards and earned an Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize in the Sundance Film Festival, but its campaign was crippled when Brazilian critics turned their support to Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (internationally known as Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures is a 2006 Brazilian film directed by Marcelo Gomes. It was Brazil's submission to the 79th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee...
), choosing it to represent Brazil in the Oscar race.
Late 2006, Montenegro garnered attention for leading a movement of film artists and investors who firmly opposed a Congressional Bill that reduced federal incentives in cultural programmes, reallocating such funds to public investments in the fields of sports and leisure. On December 14, 2006, Montenegro directly addressed the Brazilian Senate, strongly criticizing the legislation and famously asserting "Culture is, above all, a social need. It is not a frivolity." For such deeds, as well as her overall career in film, Montenegro earned, in 2007, in the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, an Honorary Award, as a Latin American Character of the Culture. Also in 2007, Montenegro played Tránsito Ariza, in Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera (film)
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
, an adaptation of the novel by the winner of the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
of Literature, Gabriel García Marquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
. Albeit a minor role, it marked Montenegro's first performance in an English language spoken feature. The movie debuted to mainly poor reviews, but none focused on Montenegro's acting.
Television
Telenovelas / Series /Miniseries- 1968 A Muralha - Cândida Olinto
- 1979 Cara a Cara - Íngrid
- 1981 Brilhante - Chica Newman
- 1981 Baila Comigo - Sílvia Toledo
- 1983 Guerra dos Sexos - Charlô
- 1986 Cambalacho - Naná
- 1987 Sassaricando - Herself
- 1990 Riacho Doce - Grandma Manuela
- 1990 Rainha da Sucata - Salomé
- 1992 O Dono do Mundo - Olga Portela
- 1993 O Mapa da Mina - Madalena
- 1993 Renascer - Jacutinga
- 1994 Incidente em Antares - Quitéria Campolargo
- 1997 Zazá - Zazá
- 2001 As Filhas da Mãe - Lulu de Luxemburgo
- 2002 Pastores da Noite - Tibéria
- 2002 Esperança - Luísa
- 2003 Celebridade - Herself
- 2004 Um Só Coração - Herself
- 2005 Hoje É Dia de Maria - The stepmother
- 2006 Belíssima - Bia Falcão
- 2009 Som & Fúria - Herself
- 2010 Passione - Bete Gouveia
Movies
- 1965 A Falecida, based on the play by Nelson Rodrigues, directed by Leon Hirszman
- 1970 Pecado MortalMortal Sin (film)Mortal Sin is a 1970 Brazilian drama film directed by Miguel Faria, Jr. The film was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 43rd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Cast:* Fernanda Montenegro as Fernanda...
- 1970 Família, by Paulo PortoPaulo PortoPaulo Porto was a Brazilian actor, film producer, director and screenwriter. He appeared in 32 films and television shows between 1947 and 1988...
- 1970 Minha Namorada
- 1971 A Vida de Jesus Cristo
- 1976 Marília e Marina, by Luís Fernando Goulart
- 1978 Tudo Bem, by Arnaldo JaborArnaldo JaborArnaldo Jabor is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed nine films between 1965 and 1990. His 1973 film Toda Nudez Será Castigada won the Silver Bear at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival....
- 1981 Eles Não Usam Black-Tie, based on the play by Gianfrancesco GuarnieriGianfrancesco GuarnieriGianfrancesco Sigfrido Benedetto Marinenghi de Guarnieri was a Brazilian actor and playwright.- External links :...
, directed by Leon Hirszman - 1985 Hour of the StarHour of the StarHour of the Star is a Brazilian film directed by Suzana Amaral and released in 1985. The film is an adaptation of a book by Clarice Lispector with the same name...
, based on Clarice LispectorClarice LispectorClarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist...
novel The Hour of the StarThe Hour of the StarThe Hour of the Star is a novella by Clarice Lispector published in 1977, shortly before the author's death. In 1985, the novel was adapted by Suzana Amaral into a film of the same name, which won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in the 36th Berlin International Film Festival of 1986...
, directed by Suzana AmaralSuzana AmaralSuzana Amaral is a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. She had eight children when she entered film school. In 1976 she entered NYU to further her desire to make films.... - 1986 Trancado por Dentro
- 1988 Fogo e Paixão, by Isay Weinfeld and Márcio Kogan
- 1994 Veja esta canção, by Cacá Diegues
- 1997 Four Days in SeptemberFour Days in SeptemberFour Days in September is a 1997 Brazilian thriller film directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents Lucy and Luiz Carlos Barreto. The film is based on the 1979 memoir "O Que É Isso Companheiro?" written by politician Fernando Gabeira...
, based on the book by Fernando GabeiraFernando GabeiraFernando Paulo Nagle Gabeira is a Brazilian politician, author and journalist. He has been a federal deputy for the State of Rio de Janeiro since 1995....
, directed by Bruno BarretoBruno BarretoBruno Barreto is a Brazilian film director born in Rio de Janeiro. He has been making feature-length films ever since he was seventeen years old and remains one of Brazil’s most accomplished and popular directors to this day... - 1998 Central Station - Dora Teixeira
- 1998 Traição, directed by Cláudio Torres, José Henrique Fonseca and Arthur Fontes
- 1999 Gêmeas, based on the book by Nelson RodriguesNélson RodriguesNelson Falcão Rodrigues was a Brazilian playwright, journalist and novelist. In 1943, he helped usher in a new era in Brazilian theater with his play Vestido de Noiva , considered revolutionary for the complex exploration of its characters' psychology and its use of colloquial dialog...
, directed by Andrucha Waddington - 2000 O Auto da CompadecidaO Auto da CompadecidaO Auto da Compadecida is a 2000 Brazilian comedy film, directed by Guel Arraes, with a screenplay by Arraes and Adriana Falcão...
- Virgin MaryMary (mother of Jesus)Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee... - 2004 Redentor, by Cláudio Torres
- 2004 OlgaOlga (film)Olga is a 2004 Brazilian film directed by Jayme Monjardim. It was Brazil's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Sinopsys:...
- Leocádia Prestes - 2004 O Outro Lado da Rua - Regina
- 2005 The House of SandThe House of SandThe House of Sand is a 2005 Brazilian film directed by Andrucha Waddington. It stars real life mother and daughter Fernanda Montenegro and Fernanda Torres...
- D. Maria / Áurea - 2007 Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera (film)Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
- Tránsito Ariza
Theater
- 1954 O Canto da Cotovia, by Jean AnouilhJean AnouilhJean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
- Directed by Gianni Ratto - 1955 A Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her Ear is a play by Georges Feydeau written in 1907, at the height of the Belle Époque.-Plot:...
, by Georges FeydeauGeorges FeydeauGeorges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
- Directed by Gianni Ratto - 1955 A Moratória, de Jorge de Andrade - Directed by Gianni Ratto
- 1956 EurydiceEurydice (Anouilh play)Eurydice is a play by French writer Jean Anouilh, written in 1941. The story is set in the 1930s, among a troupe of travelling performers. It combines skepticism about romance in general and the intensity of the relationship between Orpheus and Eurydice with an other-worldly mysticism...
, by Jean Anouilh - Directed by Gianni Ratto - 1958 Vestir os Nus, by Luigi PirandelloLuigi PirandelloLuigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
- Directed by Alberto D'Aversa - 1959 O Mambembe, by Arthur Azevedo and José Piza. Directed by Gianni Ratto
- 1960 Mrs. Warren's ProfessionMrs. Warren's ProfessionMrs Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman" and her daughter, Vivie...
, by George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
- Directed by Gianni Ratto - 1960 A Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her EarA Flea in Her Ear is a play by Georges Feydeau written in 1907, at the height of the Belle Époque.-Plot:...
, by Georges Feydeau - Directed by Gianni Ratto - 1961 O Beijo no Asfalto, by Nelson RodriguesNélson RodriguesNelson Falcão Rodrigues was a Brazilian playwright, journalist and novelist. In 1943, he helped usher in a new era in Brazilian theater with his play Vestido de Noiva , considered revolutionary for the complex exploration of its characters' psychology and its use of colloquial dialog...
- Directed by Fernando Torres - 1963 Maria, Maria, by Jean KerrJean KerrJean Kerr was an American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and best known for her humorous bestseller, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and the plays King of Hearts and Mary, Mary...
- Directed by Adolfo CeliAdolfo CeliAdolfo Celi was an Italian film actor and director.-Life and career:Born in Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 movies, specializing in international villains. His most famous role was as Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball... - 1966 O Homem do Princípio ao Fim, by Millôr FernandesMillôr FernandesMillôr Fernandes is a Brazilian cartoonist, humorist and playwright.He was born in Rio de Janeiro, and started his journalistic career already in 1938, publishing in several Brazilian magazines....
- Directed by Fernando Torres - 1967 A Volta ao Lar, de Harold Pinter - Directed by Fernando Torres
- 1970 Oh! Que Belos Dias, by Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
- Directed by Ivan de Albuquerque - 1971 Computa, Computador, Computa, by Millor FernandesMillôr FernandesMillôr Fernandes is a Brazilian cartoonist, humorist and playwright.He was born in Rio de Janeiro, and started his journalistic career already in 1938, publishing in several Brazilian magazines....
- Directed by Carlos KroeberCarlos Kroeber- Television :* 1998 - Labirinto .... Juiz* 1998 - Torre de Babel .... Dr. Navarro* 1995 - Engraçadinha... seus amores e seus pecados* 1995 - História de amor .... Remador* 1994 - A viagem.... Juiz* 1994 - Pátria minha .... Cristiano... - 1972 Seria Cômico ... Se Não Fosse Trágico, by Friedrich DürrenmattFriedrich DürrenmattFriedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
- Directed by Celso Nunes - 1976 A Mais Sólida Mansão
- 1977 É ..., De Millôr Fernandes - Directed by Paulo JoséPaulo JoséPaulo José Gómez de Sousa is a Brazilian television and film actor, director and narrator.-TV work:*2009 - Caminho das Índias - Profeta Gentileza*2006 - JK*2004 - O Pequeno Alquimista...
- 1982 As Lágrimas Amargas de Petra von Kant, by Rainer Werner FassbinderRainer Werner FassbinderRainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
- Directed by Celso Nunes - 1986 FedraPhèdrePhèdre is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677.-Composition and premiere:...
, by Jean RacineJean RacineJean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
- Directed by Augusto BoalAugusto BoalAugusto Boal was a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical popular education movements... - 1987 Dona Doida, based on works by Adélia PradoAdélia PradoAdélia Luzia Prado Freitas , is a Brazilian writer and poet.She was born in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, and started writing at the age of 40 which is relatively late in life for a poet...
- Directed by Naum Alves de Souza - 1993 The Flash and Crash Days, by Gerald ThomasGerald Thomas (theatre director)Gerald Thomas Sievers, best known as simply Gerald Thomas is a theatre director and playwright who has spent his life in the United States, England, Brazil and Germany. After graduating as a reader of philosophy at the British Museum Reading Room, Thomas began his life in the theater at Ellen...
- Directed by Gerald Thomas - 1995/96 Happy DaysHappy Days (play)Happy Days is a play in two acts, written in English, by Samuel Beckett. He began the play on 8 October 1960 and it was completed on 14 May 1961. Beckett finished the translation into French by November 1962 but amended the title...
by Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
- Directed by Jacqueline Laurence - 1998 Da Gaivota, from the play The SeagullThe SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, by Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
- Directed by Daniela ThomasDaniela ThomasDaniela Thomas is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter and editor.-Biography:Thomas, whose birthname is Daniela Gontijo Alves Pinto, is the daughter of the famous cartoonist Ziraldo Alves Pinto and the sister of Golden Globe Award-nominated film score composer Antonio Pinto.In 1994 she... - 2009 Viver em tempos mortos
Awards and nominations
Awards:- Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
:- Silver Berlin Bear Prize (Best Actress) for Central do Brasil
- National Board of Review Awards:
- Best Actress for Central Station
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association AwardsLos Angeles Film Critics AssociationThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
:- Best ActressLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...
for Central do Brasil
- Best Actress
Nominations:
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
:- Best Actress in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Central Station
- Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
for Central Station
- Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Quotes
- "My English is not good but my soul is better".
- "I'm the Old Lady from Ipanema".
- "In Brazil, I have a career. In America, I have an accent."
- "Culture is, above all, a social need. It is not a frivolity."