'A promessa' and other films: censorship in Marcello Caetano’s Portugal

Abstract

Through the study of the censorship report from the film A promessa (1972), directed by António de Macedo, and of other reports of the same period, as well as the Atas da Comissão de Censura, I intend to study the way how these filmes were censored and, in what A promessa is concerned, all the relationship established between the director, the distibutor and the Comissão de Censura.Through the analysis of some of the censored Portuguese filmography in Marcello Caetano’s time, I intend to help to understand the way how the Comissão de Censura operated in relation to the Portuguese films of that period what, by the way, may lead to a broader understanding of mentalities in Portuguese history.The present investigation is based on a study of the archives of the Secretaria de Estado da Informação e Turismo (SEIT). All the information produced by the Comissão de Exame e Classificação de Espectáculos under the Estado Novo is to be found in the relevant section of the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (ANTT), in Lisbon. As well as looking at the handling of the censorship of films, this investigation is also based on the study of the Atas da Comissão de Censura corresponding to the period from 1971 to 25 April 1974.

Keywords

• A promessa
• cinema português
• censura
• Marcello Caetano
• mentalidades