Brazilian Lit Paper
Kunal Kothari
Brazilian Film and Lit
Professor Nascimento
July 25, 2012
Midterm Exam
1) Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands:
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, is a film which is based on a novel by Jorge Amando and was directed by Bruno Barreto. The movie is a seemingly innocuous comedy on aspects of Brazilian life and customs. In essence, the main character, Dona Flor, is a gentle, warm, beautiful woman who falls in love with two completely different types of men. Because of how she was brought up, she is a shy, obedient, respectable, church-going woman who was well known in her society. In a sense, she fit the typical role of a woman in the time period that she was brought up in that she never emphasized herself in making demands, always tolerated relentless abuse just because she loved her husband, and was always passive about everything. Thus, she never failed to be victimized by men. Moreover, her story throughout the plot of the movie can be broken down into two sections, each with a different husband. The first half of the movie was with her husband Valdinho who was a pervert, womanizer, compulsive gambler and a drunkard. The second half of the movie was her with second husband, Teodoro who was respectable, orderly, cultured, and very intellectual. In fact, her second husband was ideal to a woman in that time period. However, the conflict in the movie arises when we find that Dona Flor is attracted to both types of men.
Throughout the film, we see that Dona Flor’s character changes drastically between her two husbands. With Flor’s first husband, Valdinho, who was a complete womanizer and selfish drunkard she behaved completely different than she does with her second husband. Valdinho would wander out at nights, gamble, sleep around with woman, and hardly came home to his wife, sometimes several days at a time. In addition, he would steal Flor’s money from her savings when he needed cash to gamble and if she refused to give it to him, Valdinho would beat
Brazilian Film and Lit
Professor Nascimento
July 25, 2012
Midterm Exam
1) Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands:
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, is a film which is based on a novel by Jorge Amando and was directed by Bruno Barreto. The movie is a seemingly innocuous comedy on aspects of Brazilian life and customs. In essence, the main character, Dona Flor, is a gentle, warm, beautiful woman who falls in love with two completely different types of men. Because of how she was brought up, she is a shy, obedient, respectable, church-going woman who was well known in her society. In a sense, she fit the typical role of a woman in the time period that she was brought up in that she never emphasized herself in making demands, always tolerated relentless abuse just because she loved her husband, and was always passive about everything. Thus, she never failed to be victimized by men. Moreover, her story throughout the plot of the movie can be broken down into two sections, each with a different husband. The first half of the movie was with her husband Valdinho who was a pervert, womanizer, compulsive gambler and a drunkard. The second half of the movie was her with second husband, Teodoro who was respectable, orderly, cultured, and very intellectual. In fact, her second husband was ideal to a woman in that time period. However, the conflict in the movie arises when we find that Dona Flor is attracted to both types of men.
Throughout the film, we see that Dona Flor’s character changes drastically between her two husbands. With Flor’s first husband, Valdinho, who was a complete womanizer and selfish drunkard she behaved completely different than she does with her second husband. Valdinho would wander out at nights, gamble, sleep around with woman, and hardly came home to his wife, sometimes several days at a time. In addition, he would steal Flor’s money from her savings when he needed cash to gamble and if she refused to give it to him, Valdinho would beat
Cited: Central Station. Dir. Walter Salles. Perf. Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius De Oliveira and Marília Pêra. 1998. Film. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. Dir. Bruno Barreto. Perf. Sonia Braga and José Wilker and Mauro Mendonça. Carnaval Film, Inc., 1978. DVD. Hatoum, Milton, and John Gledson. The Brothers. New York: Farar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. Print. Ribeiro, Edgard Telles. I Would Have Loved Him If I Had Not Killed Him. New York: Wyatt Book for St. Martin 's, 1994. Print.