A COMÉDIA DE DEUS

João César Monteiro

João César Monteiro was born in Figueira da Foz on February 2, 1939. He was assistant director to Perdigão Queiroga for O Milionário. In 1963 he received a scholarship from the Galouste Gulbenkian Foundation to follow courses in cinema at the London School of Film Technique. He was active at film clubs and was a movie critic for various magazines and newspapers, including 'Imagem,' 'O Tempo e o Modo,' 'Cinefilo' and 'O Diario de Lisboa.' His sharp-tongued and irreverent critiques resulted, for example, in being kicked out of the Centro Português de Cinema for having affirmed that, with few exceptions, the directors of the Gulbenkian cooperative were 'monkeys in a zoo.' During the mid-1960's he began to frequent the 'group of Vá-Vá' (Lopes, Rocha, Cunha Telles, Vasconcelos and Seixas Santos). In 1967 shooting began on Quem Espera por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço. He made his first film in 1968, the short Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, dedicated to the memory of Dreyer. Over twenty more films followed, both short and full-length, in which he often acted as well (in particular playing the part of João de Deus), constituting one of the largest cinematographic opuses ever.

He has written a collection of poems, Corpo Submerso (1958), and a collection of essays, Morituri te Salutant (1974). He was a collaborator of the magazine 'Trafic' until the death of its founder, Serge Daney. Monteiro died in February of this year after having completed his testament film Vai e Vem. A DVD edition of his entire opus, the rights to which he left to the producer of his last film, Paulo Branco, was released posthumously in Lisbon this year. This year, the book dedicated to the uncompleted project about La Philosophie dans le boudoir de Sade, was published posthumously in Lisbon.

FILMOGRAFIA

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (cm, 1968), Quem Espera Por Sapatos de Defunto Morre Descalço (mm, 1970), Fragmentos de Um Filme Esmola - A Sagrada Família (1972), As Armas e o Povo (opera collettiva, 1974), Que Farei Eu com Esta Espada? (1975), Veredas (1977), Os Dois Soldados (cm, serie TV Contos Tradicionais Portugueses, 1978-1979), O Amor das Três Romãs (cm, serie TV Contos Tradicionais Portugueses, 1978-1979) O Rico e o Pobre (cm, serie TV Contos Tradicionais Portugueses, (1978-1979), Silvestre (1981), À Flor do Mar (1986), Recordações da Casa Amarela (Ricordi della casa gialla,1989), A Água: O Último Mergulho (serie tv Os Quatros Elementos, 1992), A Comédia de Deus (La commedia di Dio, 1995), Bestiário ou o Cortejo de Orfeu (cm, 1996), Lettera amorosa (cm, 1996), Passeio com Johnny Guitar (cm, 1996), Le Bassin de John Wayne (1997), As Bodas de Deus (Le nozze di Dio, 1998), Branca de neve (2000), Vai e Vem (2003).