Santo Antonio e a vaca, a true bumpkin cinema in Araraquara

Abstract

The article analyzes the movie Santo Antonio e a vaca, made in 1958 in the city of Araraquara, São Paulo. In this pioneer movie, a bumpkin narrative and aesthetic is created in order to subvert the technological and modern cinematographic language. Santo Antonio e a vaca rescues a typical theme of countryside communities, the so called moral narrative that appears in the form of “causo” (a short oral story), which is presented with shy movie camera takes, without exploring most of the exclusively cinematographic resources. The movies’ theme and form were adopted by its creator and director, Wallace Leal as a way of reacting against the demolition of the local theatre to give place for the construction of the city hall of Araraquara. About that time, when the theatre was demolished, Wallace Leal directed a theatrical group, which presented with certain success the spectacle that would inspire and give its name to the movie.