Influential Brazilian writer Rubem Fonseca, a major literary figure in the South American country, died today at the age of 94 in Rio de Janeiro of a heart attack. One of the most influential Brazilian writers of the second half of the 20th century, Fonseca was best known for his novels High Art (1983) and August (1990). In 2003, he was awarded with the Camões Prize, the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language.
Throughout his professional career, Fonseca had a close relationship to cinema, as several of his short stories and novels where adapted to film and to television, and also working as a screenwriter. His first screenplay was for the 1971 film Lúcia McCartney, Uma Garota de Programa directed by David Neves and based on Fonseca’s 1967 short stories “Lúcia McCartney” and “O caso de F.A." The film starred Adriana Prieto in the leading role as a prostitute obsessed with the Beatles.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for the film Relatório de Um Homem Casado directed by Flávio Tambellini and based on his short story “Relatório de Carlos." The film tells the story of a married lawyer who gets romantically involved with one of his clients. Yet the relationship turns into an obsession, and the female lover realizing she'll never manage to separate him from his wife, decides to run away with another man.
Lúcia McCartney, Uma Garota de Programa (1971)
A year later Fonseca worked on the screenplay of A Extorsão, also directed by Tambellini. The crime thriller follows a couple as they get blackmailed in a compromising situation, but as they refuse to play the game, their daughter gets kidnapped.
After a long hiatus, Fonseca returned to cinema writing the screenplay of Stelinha in 1990. Starring Estér Góes and directed by Miguel Faria Jr. the drama tells the story of a young rock singer who meets his childhood heroine, a famous singer who is now wallowing in alcohol and sex. The film was the winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Gramado Film Festival, along with other numerous awards including for Best Film Best Director and Best Actress.
In 1991, filmmaker Walter Salles (Central Station. The Motorcycle Diaries) made his directorial debut with Fonseca’s acclaimed novel High Art, adapted to the big screen by the writer himself and Matthew Chapman. Released in the U.S. by Miramax Films as Exposure, the film starred American actor Peter Coyote, with Tchéky Karyo, Amanda Pays, Raul Cortez, Giulia Gam and Paulo José, among others. Set in Rio de Janeiro, the thriller follows an American photographer that becomes involved in the world of "knife culture" when he sets out to find the killer of one of his models. Janet Maslin her New York Times review of the film described it as “moody” and “ambitious.”
His novel Agosto, about the suicide of President Getúlio Vargas, was produced as a miniseries by the Globo network in 1993, and directed by Jorge Furtado, Giba Assis Brasil, Paulo José, Denise Saraceni and José Henrique Fonseca, son of the writer.
In 2001, Fonseca paired again with director Tambellini in the film-noir Bufo & Spallanzani, based on his 1985 novel. José Mayer starred in the role of Ivan Canabrava, a detective in a Pan-American insurance company who investigates the case of a landowner who dies shortly after taking out a one million dollar insurance policy. The film “weaves elements of post-modern fiction, the standard murder-mystery, time aspects and two complex love affairs into a tapestry of intrigue” wrote Robert Koehler in his Variety review of the film at the Palm Springs Film Festival.
The Man of the Year (2003)
Two years later, Fonseca worked on the film adaptation of Patrícia Melo’s novel O Matador that was directed by his son under the title of The Man of the Year / O Homem do Ano. A gangster fairy tale of drugs, guns, sex and rock-n-roll, the film followes Maiquel as he loses a bet and must dye his hair blond. This little event triggers a head-on collision with destiny and he goes from nobody to hero to outlaw.. all in 24 hours. With gangsters and cops hot on his trail, Maiquel is just hoping to live through the night with his gorgeous new companion, but she might just be the most dangerous one of all.
The film premiered at the Berlinale and had great international acclaimed winning the awards for Best Film at the San Francisco and Miami film festivals, and the Horizons Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Fonseca was awarded with the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro for Best Screenplay.
In 2005, Fonseca worked with his son again in the series Mandrake, an adaptation from the character created by him. Starring Marcos Palmeira in the title role, the series marked the first HBO original series produced in Brazil
A year later, Mexican filmmaker Paul Leduc directed Cobrador: In God We Trust, an international co-production based on Rubem Fonseca’s short stories “O Cobrador,” “Passeio Nocturno,” “Cidade de Deus” and “Placebo.” The film received several nominations and the Ariel from the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Cobrador: In God We Trust (2006)
The film stars American actor Peter Fonda as an unnamed sociopathic millionaire who lives in Miami and gets a charge out of running down female pedestrians in his oversized SUV. Meanwhile, El Cobrador, a Brazilian mineworker, travels to the Big Apple and kills everyone he can find. The Fonda character then heads down to Mexico, where he partners up with Argentinean photographer Ana, and the two embark on a bloody crime spree à la Bonnie and Clyde. The rest of the international cast of Cobrador was composed by Lázaro Ramos, Antonella Costa, Milton Gonçalves, Dolores Heredia, Isela Vega, and Maya Zapata.
Also in 2006, Fonseca’s 1973 debut novel O Caso Morel was adapted to the big screen directed by Sheila Feital. His work was also adapted into the short films: Passeig nocturn (2007) by Oriol Rovira from Spain, and Axilas (2016) by José Fonseca e Costa from Portugal. His last screenplay credit was in the 2018 Brazilian soap opera A Time to Love, based in the story of Fonseca’s grandparents.
