Manuel Guimarães
Encyclopedia
Biography
In 1931, Guimarães studied painting in the School of Fine Arts in Oporto. Started to work in 1936 as a theater scenographerScenographer
A scenographer develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term originated in theater...
, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
. Film poster designer, became interested in cinematic art, and started to as assistant of directors as Manoel de Oliveira
Manoel de Oliveira
Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira, GCSE is a Portuguese film director born in Cedofeita, Porto. He began working on films in the late 1920s, but did not receive international recognition until the early 1970s. Since the late 1980s he has been one of the most prolific working film directors and...
, António Lopes Ribeiro
António Lopes Ribeiro
António Filipe Lopes Ribeiro was a Portuguese film director.Son of Manuel Henrique Correia da Silva Ribeiro and wife Ester da Nazaré Lopes, he was the older brother of actor Ribeirinho.-Filmography:...
, Jorge Brum do Canto
Jorge Brum do Canto
Jorge Brum do Canto was a Portuguese film director.-Biography:Jorge Brum do Canto was born in Lisbon, on February 10, 1910, from a family with aristocratic Flemish and English roots. In Lisbon he attended high school and entered in the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law but did not conclude his...
, Arthur Duarte
Arthur Duarte
Arthur Duarte was a Portuguese film director.-Selected filmography:*1938 - Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca*1943 - O Costa do Castelo*1944 - A Menina da Rádio*1947 - O Leão da Estrela*1954 - A Garça e a Serpente...
and Armando de Miranda.
Directed, in 1949, the short documentary O Desterrado, a film about the life and craft of the 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...
sculptor Soares dos Reis. Saltimbancos is his first feature-film, is an adaptation of the novel Circo (Circus) of the writer Leão Penedo, which is centered in the life of a small travelling circus. Meanwhile, Guimarães worked in advertising in Metro Goldwyn-Mayer.
In 1952, Manuel Guimarães directed Nazaré, which had the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
wrote by the neo-realist writer Alves Redol
Alves Redol
António Alves Redol was one of the most influential Portuguese neorealist writers. Redol was born in Vila Franca de Xira, an industrial zone near Lisbon. In 1927 he finished school, and in the next year travelled to Angola , where he stayed for three years...
, portraiting the life of the fishermen from Nazaré
Nazaré
-In Brazil:*Nazaré, Bahia*Nazaré, Tocantins*Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo...
. The film had several cuts caused by censorship. Vidas Sem Rumo (1956), script by Manuel Guimarães and dialogues by Alves Redol
Alves Redol
António Alves Redol was one of the most influential Portuguese neorealist writers. Redol was born in Vila Franca de Xira, an industrial zone near Lisbon. In 1927 he finished school, and in the next year travelled to Angola , where he stayed for three years...
, suffered even worse cuts: about half of the film was cut and entire scenes were removed, becoming an almost unintelligible film.
Being constantly attacked by the regime, Guimarães opted to direct more commercial movies about sport events, since 1956. In his attempt to return to fiction, (A Costureirinha da Sé - 1958) Manuel had to accept product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
in the film. His next works were essentially documentaries promoting Portuguese towns and products.
António da Cunha Telles
António da Cunha Telles
António da Cunha Telles is a Portuguese film director and producer. He was born in Funchal.-Biography:António Cohen da Cunha Telles was born on February 26, 1935 in Funchal, Madeira. He studies Medicine in the University of Lisbon...
, who meanwhile began to produce the first films of the Portuguese Cinema Novo (New Cinema), became interested in him and accepted to do an executive production and co-production of two of his next films: O Crime da Aldeia Velha (1964), an adaptation of a Bernardo Santareno
Bernardo Santareno
Bernardo Santareno is pseudonym of António Martinho do Rosário , a Portuguese writer. He was born in Santarém and died in Lisboa....
play and O trigo e o Joio (1965) based in the book with the same name, by Fernando Namora, who wrote the script as well. However, the public preferred a different kind of cinema, more entertaining, and Guimarães turn again to art documentary.
Manuel Guimarães had some periods where he returned to illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
and graphic works in newspapers and other publications and continued painting, specially in the end of his life, but without any public expression.
The 25 de Abril
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
brought him hope, but it was too late. Ill, Manuel Guimarães couldn't end his last film, Cântico Final, adapted from the novel with the same name wrote by Virgílio Ferreira. The film was ended by his son, Dórdio Guimarães.
Filmography
- O Desterrado (1949)
- Saltimbancos (1951)
- Nazaré (1952)
- Vidas Sem Rumo (1956)
- As Corridas Internacionais do Porto (1956)
- XXX Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta (1957)
- O Porto é Campeão (1956)
- A Costureirinha da Sé (1958)
- Barcelos (1961)
- Porto, Capital do Trabalho (1961)
- Bi-seculares (1961)
- Crime de Aldeia Velha (1964)
- O Trigo e o Joio (1965)
- Artes Gráficas (1967)
- O Ensino das Belas-Artes (1967)
- Porto, Escola de Artistas (1967)
- Tapetes de Viana do Castelo (1967)
- Tráfego e Estiva (1968) - first Portuguese film in 70mm
- António Duarte (1969)
- Fernando Namora (1969)
- Resende (1969)
- Viagem do TER / Expressos Lisboa-Madrid (1969)
- Areia, Mar - Mar, Areia (1970)
- Cântico Final
Bibliographical References
" Dicionário do Cinema Português (1962-1988). by Jorge Leitão Ramos, Editorial Caminho, SA, LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, 1989 O Cais do Olhar by José de Matos-Cruz
José de Matos-Cruz
José de Matos-Cruz is a Portuguese writer, journalist, editor, high-school teacher, investigator, encyclopedist. From 1980 to 2010, he works at the Cinemateca Portuguesa , in Lisbon...
, Portuguese Cinematheque, 1999