Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6 1897 – August 23 1982) was a
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian-born
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
and
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
.
Cavalcanti was born in
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro 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. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
, the son of a prominent
mathematicianMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a professor he was expelled. His father sent him to
GenevaGeneva, is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
on condition that he did not study law or politics.
Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6 1897 – August 23 1982) was a
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
ian-born
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
and
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
.
Early life
Cavalcanti was born in
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro 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. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
, the son of a prominent
mathematicianMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a professor he was expelled. His father sent him to
GenevaGeneva, is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
on condition that he did not study law or politics. Cavalcanti chose to study
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
instead. At 18 he moved to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to work for an architect, later switching to working on
interior designInterior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are aesthetically attractive...
. After a visit back to Brazil he took up a position at the Brazilian
consulateThe title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is...
in
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Cavalcanti corresponded with
Marcel L'HerbierMarcel L'Herbier, Légion d'honneur, was a French film-maker, who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued until the 1950s and he made more than 40 feature films in total...
, a leading light in France's
avant-gardeAvant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
film movement. This led to a job offer from L'Herbier for Cavalcanti to work as a
set designerScenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
.
Film career
In 1920 Cavalcanti left his job at the Consulate and moved back to France to work for L'Herbier; he was to be involved in the making of numerous films the most notable being
L'InhumaineL'Inhumaine is a 1924 French drama-science fiction film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was notable for its experimental techniques and for the collaboration of many leading practitioners in the decorative arts, architecture and music...
. He was soon making his own films, in 1926 directing his first,
Rien Que les HeuresRien que les heures is a 1926 experimental silent film by Brazilian director Alberto Cavalcanti showing the life of Paris through one day in 45 minutes. Cavalcanti made a similar film about Berlin the next year....
(
Nothing But Time) — a day in the life of Paris and its citizens. In 1927 he collaborated with
Walter RuttmannWalter Ruttmann was a German film director and along with Hans Richter and Viking Eggeling was an early German practitioner of experimental film....
on a similar project set in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
, called
Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (
Berlin: Symphony of a Big City). Cavalcanti took a job with
ParamountParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
's French studios after the
talkiesA sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before reliable synchronization was made commercially...
came in, but he found himself making more commercial films which could not hold his interest and left Paramount in 1933.
In the same year Cavalcanti returned to England to work for
John GriersonJohn Grierson is often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film.-Early life:Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland. His father was the local Protestant preacher, his mother a suffragette and ardent Labour Party activist...
's
GPO Film UnitThe GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit and was headed by John Grierson, and was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the...
. He was involved in many capacities, from production to
sound engineerAudio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music. Unlike acoustical engineering, audio...
. He was to spend seven years at the GPO Film Unit, working on many projects, most notably;
Coal Face (1935),
Night MailNight Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was specially written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...
(1936),
Message to Geneva (1937),
Four Barriers (1937), and
Spare Time (1939). Much of Cavalcanti's work at the GPO was uncredited, he acted as a mentor to many new film makers, but in 1937 he was appointed acting head of the GPO Film Unit when Grierson left for
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. When Cavalcanti was told that the only way the position could become permanent was to become a
naturalized British citizenBritish nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom concerning citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex owing to the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
, he decided to leave the unit.
In 1940 Cavalcanti joined
Ealing StudiosEaling Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London and is officially the oldest film studio in the world and was purposely built for the use of sound in early British films.- History :...
, under the leadership of producer
Michael BalconSir Michael Elias Balcon KBE was an English film producer, known for his work with Ealing Studios.-Background:...
. He worked as an art editor, producer and director. His most notable works were the propaganda films
Yellow Caesar (1941),
Went the Day Well?Went the Day Well? is a British war film produced by Ealing Studios in 1942 as propaganda. It tells of how an English village is taken over by German paratroopers...
(1942),
Three Songs of Resistance (1943),
Champagne CharlieChampagne Charlie was a 1944 musical film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti based on an 1860s play that, in turn, was based on the real life rivalry between George Leybourne, who wrote the song of that name, and Alfred Vance....
(1944),
Dead of NightDead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(as co-director) (1945) and
Nicholas Nickleby (1947). In 1946 Cavalcanti left Ealing over a dispute about money. He went on to direct three more films in the UK, before returning to Brazil in 1950.
In Brazil Cavalcanti worked as a producer for Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz; the company eventually became insolvent. After being
blacklistA blacklist is a list or register of persons who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed as a communist in Brazil, he moved back to Europe. He spent much of the 1960s and 1970s working as an itinerant film maker in various different countries, including
East GermanyThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
, France and
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
.
Cavalcanti died in Paris at the age of 85.
France
- 1926 Rien que les heures
Rien que les heures is a 1926 experimental silent film by Brazilian director Alberto Cavalcanti showing the life of Paris through one day in 45 minutes. Cavalcanti made a similar film about Berlin the next year....
- 1927 Le train sans yeux
- 1927 La p'tite Lilie
- 1927 En rade
- 1927 Yvette
- 1928 La jalousie du barbouille
- 1928 La capitaine Fracasse
- 1929 Le petit chaperon rouge
- 1929 Vous verrez la semaine prochaine
- 1930 Toute sa vie
- 1930 A canção do berço
- 1930 À mi-chemin du ciel
- 1930 Les vacances du diable
- 1931 Dans une ile perdue
- 1932 En lisant le journal
- 1932 Le jour du frotteur
- 1932 Revue Montmartroise
- 1932 Nous ne ferrons jamais du cinéma
- 1932 Le truc du brésilien
- 1933 Le mari garon
- 1933 Plaisirs défendus
- 1933 Coralie et Cie
- 1933 Tour de chant
GPO & Crown Film Units
- 1934 Pett and Pott: A fairy story of the suburbs
- 1934 The glorious Sixth of June: New rates
- 1935 Coalface
- 1936 Message from Geneva
- 1937 Line to Tcherva Hut
- 1937 Men of the Alps (co-prod with Switzerland)
- 1937 We live in two worlds
- 1937 Who writes to Switzerland?
- 1937 Four barriers
- 1938 Mony a pickle
- 1938 Happy in the morning: A film fantasy
- 1939 Mid-summer day's work
- 1939 The Chiltern country
- 1940 Alice in Switzerland
- 1940 La cause commune
- 1940 Factory front
- 1940 Mastery of the sea
Ealing and UK
- 1941 Yellow Caesar (short)
- 1942 Went the Day Well?
Went the Day Well? is a British war film produced by Ealing Studios in 1942 as propaganda. It tells of how an English village is taken over by German paratroopers...
- 1943 Watertight (short)
- 1944 Champagne Charlie
Champagne Charlie was a 1944 musical film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti based on an 1860s play that, in turn, was based on the real life rivalry between George Leybourne, who wrote the song of that name, and Alfred Vance....
- 1945 Dead of Night
Dead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(episode)
- 1947 Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Cavalcanti. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens...
- 1947 They Made Me a Fugitive
They Made Me A Fugitive is a 1947 British film noir set in postwar England. The black-and-white film was directed by Alberto Cavalcanti with brooding and atmospheric cinematography by noted cameraman Otto Heller. The script was written by playwright Noel Langley, one of the screenwriters of The...
- 1947 The First Gentleman
- 1949 For Them That Trespass
- 1961 The monster of Highgate Ponds
Brazil and others
- 1950 Caiçara
Caiçara is a 1950 Brazilian drama film directed by and starring Adolfo Celi. It was nominated for the Grand Prize of the Festival at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival...
(Brazil)
- 1952 Simão, o caolho (Brazil)
- 1952 O Canto do Mar (Brazil)
- 1955 Mulher de verdade (Brazil)
- 1955 Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti (DDR)
- 1957 Die Windrose (DDR)
- 1959 La prima notte (France/Italy)
- 1961 The monster of Highgate Ponds (UK)
- 1967 Thus Spoke Theodore Herzl (Israel)
- 1969 Les empailles (France)
- 1971 La visite de la vieille dame (France)
- 1976 Le voyageur du silence (France)
- 1976 Um homem e o cinema (Brazil)
External links
- Alberto Cavalcanti biography and filmography at the BFI
BFI may refer to:* Benefit Fraud Inspectorate, a UK government agency* The IATA airport code for Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington* British Film Institute, a British charitable organisation...
's Screenonlinescreenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...