Muitos homens num só: a literatura de João do Rio no cinema brasileiro

Abstract

This research was based on a comparative analysis between the works of João do Rio Memórias de um rato de hotel ([1912] 2015), Eva: a propósito de uma menina original ([1915] 2015) and “Dentro da noite” ([1910] 2010) with the film adaptation Muitos homens num só (2015), directed by Mini Kerti. The main objectives of this dissertation were to identify the strategies and choices of the director that refer to the discussions related to the themes of identity and the crime fiction, present in Memórias de um rato de hotel; to analyze the inversion of the woman’s role in Eva: a propósito de uma menina original in relation to the Eva’s film character; to compare the relationship of the film’s Rodolfo (a man who had an uncontrollable desire of jabbing women with the pin of his tie) with Rodolfo and Clotilde of “Dentro da noite”. This research has as justification the scarcity of works related to the film and the literary works selected for this work, especially Memórias de um rato de hotel and Eva: a propósito de uma menina original, moreover, there is also the intention to keep alive the work of João do Rio, which even though it was written in the 20th century, it still remains current. In relation to the theoretical studies of the cinematographic language and Intermidiality, the studies of Bazin (1991), Bordwell (1985), Carvalhal (1998), Clüver (1997; 2006), Hutcheon (2013), Metz (1966; 2014), Plaza (2010), Rajewsky (2012) and Stam (2006; 2012) were essential. For the discussions related to authorship and identity, the researches of Lejeune (2014) and Hall (2004) were used. Thus, it was confirmed that João do Rio is the true author of Memórias de um rato de hotel, since he builds the story of Dr. Antônio, famous thief of hotel of the Rio de Janeiro’s Belle Époque, from narrative masks so that the reader would believe to be reading a narrative written by the thief himself. In this way, it was also possible to draw a relationship between João do Rio and Dr. Antônio, since the two dandies had a resemblance to the social problems faced by Rio de Janeiro in the Belle Époque’s period. Finally, it was verified the importance of the cinematographic adaptation Muitos homens num só (2015) for the Brazilian cinema and so that the literature of João do Rio remains, to a certain extent, alive.