 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Brazil and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2023) |
Pornochanchada (Portuguese pronunciation: [poʁnoʃɐ̃ˈʃadɐ]) is the name given to a genre of sex comedy films produced in Brazil that was popular from the late 1960s after popularity of commedia sexy all'italiana. By the 1980s, with the wide availability of hardcore pornography through clandestine video cassettes, the genre suffered a considerable decline. The name, combined pornô (porn) and chanchada (light comedy), which itself combined comedy and erotica.[1][2]
Due to a confluence of economic and cultural factors, particularly with the liberation of customs, it produced a new trend in the film field, questioning customs and exploring erotica.[3] As a typical cultural product of Brazil, pornochanchada achieved great commercial success in the country throughout the 1970s, despite the low cost of its productions, mainly made in Boca do Lixo.
The genre was heavily influenced by popular Italian comedies, especially those of an erotic nature, as well as the reinterpretation of the Rio de Janeiro tradition of popular urban comedy and the insinuating eroticism of São Paulo films from the late 1960s.[4][5] Although the label was used indiscriminately, whether for poorly finished or well-crafted works, pornochanchada was characterized by the development of scripts emphasizing erotic situations, innuendos, jokes, and a priority focus on female anatomy, a film formula that quickly captured large segments of the Brazilian market.[6] Combining titles with double meanings, the plots often revolved around themes such as virginity, romantic conquest, and adultery, among others.[7]
For many of its critics, pornochanchada films were considered vulgar and crude, taking advantage of the strict control over cultural production and information during the Brazilian military dictatorship. More conservative and moralistic sectors of society even organized campaigns against the screening of these films, and hundreds of them were heavily censored by federal censors.[8] Others argued that the genre led a significant market phase for Brazilian cinema in the mid-1970s.[4] One notable film of the genre is A Dama do Lotação, which is the fourth highest-grossing film in the history of Brazilian cinema, with 6.5 million viewers.[9] This genre (alongside erotic drama) is responsible for the phrase "Brazilian cinema is just about sex."[10]
The decline of pornochanchada came in the early next decade, due to both its thematic exhaustion and the rise of hardcore pornography, which put an end to the genre's roughly 15-year existence as a popular genre.[6][11]
- ^ Johnson & Stam 1995. p. 269
- ^ Dennison 2004. p. 157
- ^ Abreu, 2000, p.431
- ^ a b Abreu, 2000, p.432
- ^ O Estado de S.Paulo, July 1, 1979
- ^ a b Simões, 2007, p.185
- ^ Simões, 2007, p.186
- ^ Simões, 2007, p.191
- ^ Leonardo Filomeno (12 July 2012). "As pornochanchadas que fizeram parte da nossa adolescência". manualdohomemmoderno.com.br. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- ^ Clara Azevedo (February 19, 2014). "A Dama do Lotação (1978)". cinecanarinho.com.br. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- ^ Abreu, 2000, p.433