This article seeks to investigate how Brazilian film critics imagined Rio de Janeiro, “the capital city”. Through criticism of the movies Rio fantasia [Fantasy Rio] (1957), by Watson Macedo, and Rio, 40 graus [Rio Forty Degrees], by Nelson Pereira dos Santos, the article intends to understand how certain agents described and legitimized Rio, the federal capital at that time, while judging it – perhaps for posterity.
Keywords:
Rio de Janeiro; Capitality; Movie theater; Film criticism