Under the sign of the provisional: a director among three cities

Abstract

This paper analyses the Brazilian film The Provisional Life (1968), by director Mauricio Gomes Leite, as a starting point to discuss the relationship between cinema and the city. In order to do so, it is intended to focus on the study of memory, going from its temporal to spatial specificity, and thus attempt to understand how cinema highlights the discussion between the real city and  discourses  on cities. Three main categories are chosen for the film analyses: presence and the meanings echoed by the exposure of Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia in the plot of the film; mimesis between the director and the main character; and the influenceof the provisional in the lives of the characters and their relationship with the historical time in which the film was made – the Brazilian military dictatorship.