Argentinean and Brazilian crime novel adaptation:

“Cultural heroes in focus” or “cultural criminals in focus”

George Frederico Oliveira Bentley
Spanish and Portuguese Department, School of Languages Linguistics and Cultures, The University of Manchester

Who is the cultural criminal and who is the cultural hero?

Objective The crime films that address marginal The crime films that expose The crime film that fantasizes activist
The objective is to demonstrate how three crime institutional crime crime
examples of Argentinean and three examples Plata Quemada (2000) - (Homosexual El Bonaerense (2004) - (Civilian’s perspective) Los Siete Locos(1973) - (Cynical Revolutionary),
of Brazilian film adaptations, approach specific Marginality) and O Invasor (2002) - (Social Tropa de Elite (2007) - (Police perspective. O Homem do ano (2003) - (Brazil’s sub-
aspects of criminality by fore fronting the literary Marginality). conscience personified).
adapted protagonists as incarnations of these Corrupt gaucho or marginal victim of the cor-
historical, political and social narratives. Gay cultural criminals or gay cultural heroes? rupt constabulary. Deranged gangster or frustrated revolutionary?
The aim is to discuss the popularity of such ad-
aptations on a national and international level
illustrating how these can be cultural heroes
from an Argentinean and Brazilian perspective,
and cultural criminals from the inter¬national
perspective.
The aim is to use the main conceptual/theoretical Is the slum dweller who kills the wealthy con-
debates in adaptation of Barthes’ narrative func- struction company owner a cultural criminal?
tions, Jean-Rock Gaudreault’s work on character
analysis and Wagner’s types of adaptations to Tyrannical leader or heroic lawman
discuss how on a national level, the film adapta-
tion protagonists can challenge social stigmas, Vengeful citizen or heroic vigilante
but on an international level appear to re-enforce
them. That is to say that these Argentinean and
Brazilian film adaptations are selling a product

Produced at the Graphics Support Workshop, Teaching Support Services Unit, The University of Manchester
to an audience which is aware of these social
problems, but does not share the same cultural
familiarity with these problems or resolve to
tackle them because they happen “elsewhere”.
By saying “elsewhere”, in this context, one means Or a cultural hero playing the two co-workers
that while these film adaptations align them- against one another after they paid him to do it.
selves with the protagonists, the international
audience may not identify with the protagonists
in the same way. The international audience This project investigates the important empirical questions of :
recognises’ the impractical nature of trying to un- Why have these novels been chosen for adaptation?
derstand the examples of crime and resigns it to Where have these films been distributed and exhibited in Argentina and Brazil and then abroad
the social stigmas like poverty or racial inequality (i.e. at international festivals)?
without considering other factors of the broader
Are these films producing realist or stylised approaches to crime?
historical, social and political context. Therefore
these international audiences are seeing these Are these filmes stylised to appeal to an international audience attuned to similar films on crimi-
problems through a “media safety glass screen” nality emerging from these and other countries?
george.oliveirabentley@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk