Circus clown to cinematic legend
Amácio Mazzaropi is remembered as one of Brazil’s most original and rebellious artists, who came to define Brazilian Cinema precisely by heading out and doing his own thing. A born performer and creator, Mazzaropi’s vision never wavered, allowing him to rise from a low-paying position as a circus performer to one of the country’s most well-known and well-loved screen presences.
Even in the mainstream, he kept his harlequin edge, allowing him to make humorous films which also commented upon the dominant issues of Brazil’s contemporary moment - race, class, religion and the concept of Brazilian selfhood.
Mazzaropi was an important later part of the Paulista film industry’s growth in the 20th century. During his most prolific period, he made almost one film every year for over 30 years.
In his own words, his story is “the story of a good or bad actor who always kept theaters full.” Here you can explore the places important to Mazzaropi’s world.
Santa Cecília
Mazzaropi was born in 1912 in Santa Cecília, São Paulo. His mother, Clara Ferreira, was Portuguese and his father an Italian immigrant by the name of Bernardo Mazzaropi. The Italian name and non-Brazilian heritage were used by critics against Amácio during his film career, but his unique outsider/insider lens on Brazilian culture helped him to make such original work. He was born in a house on this site.
Tremembé
Mazzaropi’s life took him to many different cities within the state of São Paulo, and an important early home was Tremembé. The young boy spent part of his childhood living here with his maternal grandfather, João José Ferreira, who was a guitar-virtuoso. Young Mazzaropi was enchanted by his grandfather’s music and skill, and it was here in Tremembé that he first knew he wanted to create and perform. His grandfather made an artist of him.
Taubaté
Before his spell in Tremembé with his grandfather, a 2-year-old Mazzaropi moved with his family to Taubaté. The idea of these streets as “home” took root, and in 1958 he returned to Taubaté to found his own film studio, PAM Filmes, to make and distribute his own motion pictures. Perhaps Taubaté was Mazzarapi’s most important home. The Hotel Farenza Mazzaropi today occupies the former site of PAM Filmes, and the Mazzaropi Museum sits on the grounds in the old studios. Wander around it here!
Rural São Paulo
Most of Mazzaropi’s comedy and commentary concerned the rural population of São Paulo, the caipiras, and their relation to the modernization of the state’s large, increasingly capitalist cities. His most famous and beloved character, Jeca Tatu, the protagonist of the 1959 film of the same name, is a caipira who becomes successful in the big city. This satire of urbanization and capital was one of Mazzaroppi’s chief artistic channels, and allowed him to create much humour and poignance. Rural regions such as here in the Marsilac, south of the city, were important inspirations and locations for Mazzaropi.
The life of a philosopher-clown
By the time he passed away in 1981, Amácio Mazzaropi had made 32 films, 21 of which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in himself. Though he was never as high-brow or critically acclaimed as the luminaries of the Cinema Novo movement (his contemporary, Glauber Rocha, is particularly celebrated), Mazzaropi the philosopher-clown was far more widely beloved and enjoyed, bringing his own bohemian wisdom to Brazilian cinema.