Hollywood Influence in Brazilian Cinema

Hollywood: The Golden Model

Hollywood, being basically the center of the film industry, serves as a model for many other countries. Using the most advanced technology and special effects, it draws viewers from all over the world. One country where Hollywood has made a huge influence is Brazil. Brazilian filmmakers many times imitate those North American films which were successful worldwide in order to try and also imitate the film’s success. In fact, one criticism of Brazilian cinema is that their films contribute almost nothing to their nation’s culture, since most of the films are mere imitations of North American films. But, this imitation of North American films goes farther than just the film industry. Apparently, the Brazilian public has based their way of life after North American films. The American films have had so much influence in Brazil that Brazilians feel that the films will provide them with better images of life. One area of Brazilian cinema that has had great influence is the use of technology and special effects. Hollywood, having such a large budget, is able to spend a great amount of money on such effects. Brazilian cinema, on the other hand, has much less funding and it is hard for them to compete with the effects in Hollywood films. Brazilian cinema carries a lot of Hollywood influence due to the interest of the general public and the fascination of the special effects and new technology.
More than just films imitating North America, the general public does so too. Films which imitate the Hollywood style do significantly better than the national films because the general public views it as their way of life. They appreciate Hollywood-style films and those films make much more money at the box office then those which are about Brazilian culture. One tactic Brazilian cinema uses to imitate the American way without overspending is to almost make a mockery of how the effects seen in Hollywood are on another level. Brazilian filmmakers know that Hollywood imitations are successful, and when such an imitation is not possible, they choose to exploit it and still draw viewers by basing their film from Hollywood. Glauber Rocha, a Brazilian filmmaker, states that the Brazilian people seem to appreciate American style films much more than any other type: “A vicious circle: when most Brazilians make films, they make them "a la Americana," and it is primarily for this reason that Brazilian spectators try to make any Brazilian film they view into a Brazilian film "a la Americana!" If the film is not "North American," it disappoints. “ Rocha explains that a common goal of Brazilian filmmakers is to imitate American films in order to catch the attention of most Brazilian viewers. Since in general, Brazilian society seems to view Hollywood movies as more appealing, Brazilian movies following the same approach hope to be just as successful.
One interesting type of Hollywood influence in Brazilian films almost mocks their own films and reveals that Hollywood is in fact the most advanced cinema. Some Brazilian filmmakers, when trying to imitate Hollywood styles, realize that with the limited budget and resources, it is not possible. This certain type of film mocks the Brazilian film industry by proving that it is not possible for Brazilian filmmakers to use such effects. On page 305 of the book “Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media”, by Ella Shohat and Robert Stam explain “The Brazilian parodies of American films, as Viera points out, tend to focus on superproductions such as King Kong and Jaws, providing a pretext for the directors to mock both the American films and Brazilian inability to imitate their glossy and high-tech production values.” This statement shows that the most successful and most costly films for Hollywood are on another level which Brazilian filmmakers cannot even reach. It shows that when trying to imitate such “superproductions”, Brazilian filmmakers are left with the only choice of turning their films into mockeries. Such a tactic is used in order for Brazilian filmmakers to find a way to imitate such successful Hollywood films without having to try and match the budget and technology in the film.
One aspect found in many strong national cinemas which is missing in Brazilian cinema is a patriotic, national hero which represents the true characteristics of his country. Rocha describes such a character as “the multiple Brazilian man, who lives through each crisis as it presents itself. The tenuousness of the life of such a character, both active and reflective, is not found in our cinema, though it is present in our literature and theatre. If the Brazilian hero lacks character—as I believe he does—if he is lost and puzzled, without traditions or future, how should he be presented?” In order for a cinema to have a figure which represents it as a whole, it must be able to create a film solely pertaining to its own nation and highlight aspects which would be universally understood throughout the country. Such an example in Hollywood would be characters from films like “The Patriot” or “Braveheart”, films which really show American pride and admire characters who seem to fully and greatly represent a country’s values. If Brazilian culture and storylines do not excite Brazilian viewers, than such a character may not be very common in films. Instead, imitations of those films which have become internationally acclaimed would be of more interest to Brazilian viewers.
Not only has Brazilian cinema seen a huge impact from Hollywood, but countries from all over the world have been influenced. Hollywood, being obviously the most successful cinema in the world, whether it be due to the great amount of freedom it is given, or for the amount of capital available, has served as a model for other cinemas. In the book “Remapping World Cinema”, by Stephanie Dennison and Song Hwee Lim, “Classical Hollywood cinema caused a huge impact on cinemas all over the world, changing them all of a sudden into modern cinemas and giving birth, for example, to the Soviet montage cinema and the Shanghai cinema of the 1920’s and 1930’s.” Back when Hollywood was the only major film industry in the world, new industries only had one place to model after. According to Dennison and Lim, some world cinemas only exist after using influence of Hollywood to allow them to look modern and rise up.
Dennisson and Lim believe that if Hollywood did not exist, different film industries would be able to stick to their respective cultures and please their viewers by such methods. Dennisn and Lim explain “I would favour a method in which Hollywood and the West could cease to be the centre of film history,and this would be seen as a process with no single beginning. The advantage of such an approach is that, once the idea of a single centre is eliminated, nothing needs to be excluded form the world cinema map, not even Hollywood, which, instead of a threat, becomes an element or a cinema among others. It can receive major, minor or no attention depending on the object in question.” The authors explain that if Hollywood was not first, and did not serve as a model for other film industries, then other national cinemas would actually be able to appeal their audiences by showing national culture. But, since Hollywood movies were the first ones ever made, and since it fulfilled the expectations of viewers around the world, it continues to impact other cinemas in order to capture viewers who may not be normally interested in Brazilian films. But, if for example, Brazilian viewers only had original Brazilian movies to compare their new ones too, they would find that if movies with a lot of culture were very successful, then the following movies made would imitate as many aspects possible in order to be successful. The filmmakers focus more on the fact that if a certain idea has worked in the past, it should be used again, instead of trying to come up with new insightful ideas which may change viewers forever and be even more successful then other types of movies in the past.
Brazilian cinema has many aspects taken from Hollywood influence. While many people around the world view Hollywood movies as the most technologically advanced and most entertaining, other film industries feel that the same type of films will be successful in their own countries too. Brazliian filmmakers stick to Hollywood imitations because their culture also becomes influenced by such ideas, they cannot compete by the means of both technology and money, and because Hollywood serves as a model for all film industries, and therefore has strong influence on most cinemas around the world.

Works Cited

Dennison, Stephanie, and Song Hwee Lim. Remapping world cinema identity, culture and politics in film. London: Wallflower P, 2006.

Rocha, Glauber. "Critical Culture: Rocha on Brazilian Cinema." Weblog post. Critical Culture. 21 Apr. 2009 .

Shohat, Ella. Unthinking Eurocentrism multiculturalism and the media. London ; New York: Routledge, 1994.