Falsos mitos e heróis vencidos em O Pagador de Promessas e O Bem-Amado: do texto dramático para a tela

Abstract

Literature and film engender multiple readings and mobilize different theoretical approaches. This doctoral thesis revisits the adaptation studies and makes a cut to account the adaptation process of dramatic texts to film. The object of analysis are the plays O Pagador de Promessas (1959) and O Bem-Amado (1962), playwright Alfredo Dias Gomes, adapted to film, respectively, by the directors Anselmo Duarte (1962) and Guel Arraes (2010). The research has as main objective to analyze the theme of the loser heroes and the false myths, as well as the narrative elements, in the passage of dramatic text to the screen, considering the historical context of Brazil in the 1950s and 1960s. The plays belong to the phase of "maturity" of the playwright. In the first play, we have the presence of the loser hero, represented by the character Ze-do-Burro, and in the second, Dias Gomes celebrates the false myths, in which we see a reflection about the myth and mystification in modern society, through characters-type that comprise it. We consider, in the study, the differences between media, the peculiarities of the language used, the historical context and production circumstances in which dramatic texts and films are inserted. The focus of the thesis reflect about the heroes and the nation's representative myths of the second half of the twentieth century and how they were represented in the theater and film. Here, we also present the cinematographic resources used by the directors in the process of adapting the source texts to film, as well as images of Brazil in the reviewed period, present in plays and respective movies. All elements of the research, presented here, were analyzed in the light of theoretical studying of the theme of the hero and myth in the signs of culture, notably in literature and cinema. In addition, we recourse to bibliographical studies on the process of adaptation and studies on theater and cinema in Brazil, which helped us understand the artistic expressions produced in the country in the period that preceded the military dictatorship. Finally, we used the tools of structural narrative analysis in order to understand the narrative construction of the dramatic texts by Dias Gomes, adapted for the cinema. From this theoretical framework, we undertook a comparative analysis, comparing dramatic text and film, weaving the narrative threads that bring both media and signaling points of each work. The research aims to appreciate the dramatic production by Dias Gomes and their adapters, showing the importance of this study to understand the representative cultural expressions of a nation.