Paulo César Saraceni's short film/documentary presents a summary on how a film is made, from the basics of filming and the celluloid works up until
the editing process - strangely enough the film skipped the writing a screenplay part (WHAT? Yeah!).
For a begginer in the art of cinema, its ways and processes this is a kind of curious project where you get small glimpses of how a film is composed, and
here Mr. Saraceni shoots a fictional movie with several stars of the period such as Nelson Xavier, Wilson Grey and Joel Barcellos yet the actual movie does not exist. He shows
the filming with the actors, the dubbing of the sound, the use of soundtrack, and explains concepts or concepts developed by other films and artists - which
includes a tribute to Lumière brothers while making a re-read from "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat", the so-called first cinema experience of all time (although
there are cinematic experiences before that, some still existing and you can find them in this very website). Anyway, it's very didatic and well-explained so
there's nothing wrong in it for those who want to learn some details about cinema and the filmmaking process.
However, to those more versed in the topic this is something of little effect because a) you already know everything that's presented in the movie and b)
the short doesn't give a higher purpose on the importance of motion pictures. Not to mention it doesn't present cultural references, some of the important
movies made up until that time. It's just a curious exercise in showing each process is and how it's done while making a fictional movie. And the version
available comes with a poor cinematography that makes it difficult to see things in some sequences.
I liked it anyway since my power of imagination could be ativated for a while and I could pretend to never know about how the making of the film art.
Plus, during the dubbing sequence where a couple perform their lines on camera, there's a couple struggling to each other while the director instructs them
how to deliver an exact line and nothing goes accordingly - there's a fine sense of humor in that shot.
My dream project of such a similar scenario about Cinema 101 to beginners would be a veteran director presenting in detail the filmmaking process at
the same time he's shooting a project that later on gets to be seen. One may say those DVD/Blu-Ray specials get close to that, but they'll never have the time
to fully break the magic and the show the whole thing...but it's close. 6/10.
