São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole (1929) User Reviews

Brazil Tuned With Europe

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 19 November 2005]

During the 1920s and the 1930s, the German Walter Benjamin wrote about cities. He was born in Berlin, but felt in love with Paris. In 1927, Walter Ruttmann directed the fantastic "Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt".

Surprisingly, Brazil was tuned with Europe and was the unique country in Latin America that produced modern movies about and influenced by the metropolis. In 1926, it was released a documentary about Recife. In 1928, Humberto Mauro directed his "Sinfonia de Cataguases", ("Symphony of Cataguases") a short inspired in "Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt". In Porto Alegre, it was produced "A Princesinha do Sul".

"São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole", directed by the Hungarian Adalberto Kemeny and Rudolf Rex Lustig, is the most famous and important Brazilian documentary totally inspired in the German classic. The film begins with the dawn, with the city "waking-up", ending in the sunset, showing the dynamics of a big city and its dwellers. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole" ("Brazil, Symphony of the Metropolis")

building the future

[m67165 · 21 November 2005]

Inspired by a similar documentary about modern Berlin, the directors of this one try to show the viewer that São Paulo is a Modern City. There is a shade of militarism, but it is not quite as fascism was in Europe. They do not seem to advocate the elimination of the unadapted, but to point out that every class has its place in the bright collective future the people of São Paulo are helping to build for themselves and the rest of Brazil.

The camera does not refrain from showing the poor, and even the handicapped, though briefly. Even a prison is a good subject for the camera, although it is obviously presented as a place for correction and victory over the lack of discipline. The movie seems to be telling audiences all over Brazil to get ready to be lead by São Paulo. It foreshadows the political fight that would explode into a military conflict in 1930.