The Body of the 25th of April: Provocation, Dramatization and Catharsis of Memory in Cinema

Abstract

In a specific type of documentary, the goal is often to engage participants' senses by involving them in physical, vocal, and collective activities. This method can elicit powerful physical and emotional memories. In my film Prazer, Camaradas! (2019), scenes in which the protagonists wash clothes in a communal tank or participate in a cooperative assembly facilitate a process of memory recall or retrieval that may challenge perceptions of a particular era. Following the Carnation Revolution, filmmakers such as António de Macedo in Candidinha ou a Ocupação de Um Atelier de Alta-Costura (1975) and José Nascimento in Pela Razão Que Têm (1976) adopted similar techniques. I prefer to describe this evocation of memory as a dramatization rather than a reconstitution. In this approach, actors do not just imitate past behaviors or depict events as they occurred; instead, they bring the present into dialogue with the past through their bodies and voices.