Imitação da vida, a escrita cinematográfica e o melodrama

Abstract

In this project called “Imitation of Life. Scriptwriting and melodrama”- in a clear tribute to the films by John Stahl (1934) and Douglas Sirk (1959) both based on the novel by Fannie Hurst- we intent to analyze the evolution of the melodrama, since its appearance while gender, in theater, and how it developed with the cinema. The various readings that the filmic studies made of the melodrama served to frame theoretically a collection of works from the 1950s, in particular the late filmography of Douglas Sirk. We also highlighted the recuperation and reinvention of the melodrama since the 1970s with filmmakers as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pedro Almodóvar e Todd Haynes. The purpose of this study of melodrama, and its principles, was to answer to the main question regarding the emotional impact of melodrama to the public. On the basis of the theoretical frame we started writing an argument of feature film, by applying the principles of the melodramatic genre.

Date of Award	29 Jun 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Catarina Duff Burnay (Supervisor)