Pornochanchada

Terrible “sounding” word that I just learn a few days ago thanks to a great blog reader and I know that some of you know what it is and some will not. Me to denote my huge ignorance admit that never heard the word before.

The word comes from Brazil and is composed by two words: pornô (porn) and chanchada (light comedy) and to my surprise is a Brazilian cinema genre that was popular in Brazil thanks to the strict censorship of the military dictatorship of the ‘70s and early 80’s. According to a fast research, the films initially were produced in the downtown quarter of Sao Paulo with the nickname Boca do Lixo (Garbage Mouth) and collectively were also known as cinema da Boca (movies of the Mouth).

The genre had so much success that a subgenre was eventually generated and called pornochanchada carioca with films done in Rio de Janeiro.

When I first learned the word I related to the American sexploitation films and even if I still think that pornochanchada have to have an influence, the information I found is that were inspired by Italian cinema of the ‘70’s and I tend to believe that could be true as in that decade (and a little before) Italian cinema use to do a lot of “art” and “comedy” movies that have a very thin line bordering porn.

When the military dictatorship ended, the genre also disappeared and the actors and actresses that became so popular migrated to soap operas and “normal” cinema. What really blew my mind is to find that actors/artists like Caetano Veloso, Sonia Braga, etc. and even Xuxa did pornochachadas.

I’m really fascinated with this discovery more in the intellectual side than in the “I’m going to watch the movies right away” side, as I really dislike porn and I’m not a fan of sexploitation movies. But if I ever find a movie with Sonia Braga that belongs to this genre probably I will watch it for “educational” purposes. (I did!!)

Nevertheless I imagine the genre must be more comedy than porn as according to what I read, the strict censorship allowed this genre because they weren’t critical of the government and did not depict explicit sex.

When I have more time I will do a formal research about this genre and promise to not write in here about it. But now, after I did this post, I know I won’t forget about Pornochanchadas!

If you feel like watching some posters from the genre go here.

OMG!!! I just found that I have seen a Pornochanchada and had NO IDEA of the genre! In that page there is a poster for a Sonia Braga movie that of course I saw and liked! Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos!!! Still, the pic in this post is one movie I haven’t seen and the music is by Caetano Veloso... gosh! Veloso and Braga… hmm! Too Much to skip it!

LOL!