Machado: entre a galhofa e a melancolia

Abstract

The idea of pursuing a PhD is challenging for all those planning the journey. I remember Umberto Eco when he says that the author is not responsible for the interpretation of his work, but for the testimony of how and why he wrote it. This thesis is the result of my concerns as a screenwriter and of my academic research. I realized a comparative analysis between the content of screenwriting manuals and what a screenwriter actually uses in his production. From this basis, I decided to create a biographical film about Machado de Assis. Although he is one of the best known and respected Brazilian writers by the public, recognized by national and international literary critics, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis has not yet had his life biographed for the cinema or television screens. Therefore, I chose to develop a script for the audiovisual media – a film that would later unfold into a four-episode miniseries for TV or streaming. To this end, I analyzed the screenwriting books and applied some techniques and subverted others. The last part of my work consists of a postscript in a line of work inspired by Umberto Eco’s Postscript to The Name of the Rose (1985), in which the author explores the research and writing processes he employed during the creation of his work