IN SEARCH OF FILMS LOST IN MEMORY – PART TWO

Aurélio P. Cardoso
EEdition: Marco Aurélio Lucchetti

The movie cult It's not necessarily an art film, nor is it one that conveys pseudo-philosophical messages that only critics and intellectuals would understand. It's also not the film of the season (or of the season), that is to say, a blockbuster which, after a massive advertising campaign (it is these advertising campaigns that influence people to go to the cinema, thus generating large box office returns), disappears without a trace, like those of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose films are mostly commercial, evasive and frivolous..
The movie cult It is the film that becomes an object of cult worship for the average viewer or cinephile and that, over time, comes to be enjoyed by a... status of an important work, without having had a strong campaign of marketing or often without a million-dollar cast or special effects..
A few years ago, while working in the rental business... VHS e DVDs, I've come across people searching for all sorts of films and venerating works that critics trash more than Judas on Holy Saturday. I respect such works because, by being revered, it's a sign that they've at least reached a specific audience. One example is... On behalf of God (Stealing Heaven, (1988). Nobody believed in such a film, which was distributed, without any fanfare, directly to the video market. However, it ended up being a success, thanks to the women, who were moved to tears watching the forbidden romance of Peter Abelard and Heloise de Argenteuil in medieval Paris.

Derek de Lint and Kim Thomson, playing Peter Abelard and Helóïse de Argenteuil, in the film In the Name of God.

The female audience, moreover, manages to transform films that touch their sensibilities into resounding successes, spreading the word – as Martin Scorsese said: “"People become interested in a particular film when they hear good things about it."” Some examples are the films: The Bridges of Madison County (The Bridges of Madison County, 1995), Love Beyond Life (When Dreams May Come, 1998), City of Angels (City of Angels, 1998) and A Love Letter (Message in a Bottle, (1999), which were highly sought-after films in video rental stores, even years after their release. Women love to watch and rewatch these films while enjoying boxes and boxes of chocolate..
Just out of curiosity: a friend of mine said that whenever she's depressed, she watches... Casablanca (idem, 1942) or Sabrina (idem, 1954).

Another interesting fact: many films that fail in the North American market end up finding a great audience in Brazil..
One of the most curious cases is that of Lost Horizon (Lost Horizon, 1973).

A blend of adventure, drama, and musical film., Lost Horizon, The film, based on the classic novel by James Hilton, was a resounding failure in the United States. However, in Brazil, it achieved great success, remaining in some São Paulo cinemas for over a year at the time..
In reality, there's no rule for a film to become a cult classic..
There are, for example, those who worship the films of Mazzaropi. There are others who worship those of Fellini, or those of Steve Reeves, or the Sissi trilogy, starring Romy Schneider. There are also those who transform into cult martial arts films with Bruce Lee, erotic comedies with Lando Buzzanca, the spaghetti westerns directed by Lucio Fulci… There are also people who worship only one film. For example, I have a friend who is a fanatic for Amarcord (idem, (1973), by Fellini. He's such a fanatic of the film that, imitating one of the characters, he often climbs trees and shouts: “"I want a woman."” Another friend of mine liked it so much The Suspects (The Usual Suspects, 1995) who keeps asking: “Where is Keizer Söze?” There is yet another acquaintance who is a fan of Apocalypse Now (idem, (1979). Then, he imitates Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore and says: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning."”

Romy Schneider (stage name of Rosemarie Magdalena Albach, 1938-1982), portraying the Austrian Empress Sissi.

Lando Buzzanca (1935-2022) and Barbara Bouchet, in a scene from the erotic comedy. Shall we make love? (Il Debito Coniugale, 1970).

Original (Italian) poster of Shall we make love?

Illustration made for the poster of The Four of the Apocalypse (I quattro dell' Apocalisse, 1975).
BBased on “The Luck of Roaring Camp” (1868) and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” (1869), two short stories by the American writer Bret Harte (Francis Bret Harte, 1836-1902), The Four of the Apocalypse is one of the three spaghetti Westerns directed by Lucio Fulci (1927-1996), best known for horror films.

Something I want to highlight is that, in the 1980s, when Fernando Kaxassa and I were programming the Cineclube Cauim, we always tried to select films—which became cult classics—that could appeal to a general audience and that avoided being labeled as pedantic, pretentious, and hermetic works—in short, films with a stale taste of elitist art. We wanted to create a new cycle of viewers, because, as filmmaker Ivan Cardoso rightly said, “"The most memorable films are the first ones you watch in your life."”. And diversity was the best weapon. We followed an axiom quoted by the French director François Truffaut: “"A normal, but energetic film can be better cinema than a clever but weak film."”

In the two photos above, Ornella Muti (stage name of Francesca Romana Rivelli) and Adriano Celentano are the lead performers. The Tamed Bachelor (Il Bisbetico Domato, 1980), an Italian comedy inspired by the play The Taming of the Shrew (The Taming of the Shrew, 1594), by William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
Dmanaged by Castellano & Pipolo, The Bachelor Amansado was screened at the Cineclube Cauim around 1988.

Another thing I want to highlight is that I'm also searching for a film I've lost in my memory. It's a film I saw in the mid-1970s at the now-defunct Cine Plaza in downtown Ribeirão Preto: Race Against Destiny (Vanishing Point, 1971).
Directed by Richard C. Sarafian and written by Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Malcolm Hart & Barry Hall, Race Against Destiny It left me stunned, showing the prowess of a outsider, Kowalski, aboard his super-fast Dodge Challenger.

Barry Newman (Barry Foster Newman, 1930-2023), playing Kowalski, in Race Against Destiny.

Race Against Destiny It's a film that's etched in my memory. And I'm afraid to rewatch it and lose its charm. But it will always be a film. cult. That's because the movie cult It's the kind that engages all the viewer's senses and leaves no one indifferent.