O Mato Grosso do Sul, tal como sentido, tal como pensado: estruturas de sentimento nos filmes a vez de matar, a vez de morrer (2016) e Madalena (2021)

Abstract

This thesis is situated within the field of the sociology of culture, dedicated to the study of artistic and intellectual productions. Its central objective is to identify and analyze how contemporary cinema from Mato Grosso do Sul responds to the idiosyncrasies of this region. To this end, the research adopts the theoretical-methodological framework of cultural materialism, with particular emphasis on the concept of structures of feeling. This perspective guides an investigation that articulates both internal elements – the analysis of the films’ aesthetic Properties – and external ones – their inseparable relationship with the broader social totality. Based on this framework, the research seeks to answer the following question: to what extent do the films A Vez de Matar, A Vez de Morrer (dir. Giovani Barros, 2016) and Madalena (dir. Madiano Marcheti, 2021), both produced in Mato Grosso do Sul, reveal specific aspects of the social and cultural experiences lived in this region of the Brazilian Midwest? The film analysis carried out leads to the conclusion that, although these works expose social and cultural dynamics rooted in this territory, such experiences are not exclusive to it. Therefore, the investigation does not lead to essentialist interpretations of the Mato Grosso do Sul experience but rather highlights an exchange of feelings and ideas with other rural contexts, which are likewise shaped by the dominance of agribusiness and the circulation of agro-industrial commodities.