Football, cinema and new sensibilities in the masculine territory : an analysis of Asa Branca, a Brazilian Dream (1981) and New Wave (1983)

Football (soccer) has featured in well-known films led by renowned directors. Perhaps the best known examples are Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goal keeper’s Fear of the Penalty Kick), directed by Wim Wenders, released in 1971, and Escape to Victory, directed by John Huston, released in 1981. These films exceeded the borders of basic sport cinematography, for social issues were confronted in their story lines. In a similar vein, we argue that the art of cinema and the art of football can coalesce in both aesthetics and narrative. They can help us to think about certain representations of culture and society in context, and thus to analyse the spirit of a time. The aim of this chapter is to capture that spirit within a particular moment in Brazilian society through the analysis of two films that have football as an essential part of their plot