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R.I.P. Eduardo Coutinho & P.S. Hoffman
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    Eduardo Coutinho (80), writer and great director. Murdered by son; Rio

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    Philip Seymour Hoffman (46), great actor. OD; NY

                                                                                                                                        gashô                                 gashô

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  • Film community is in shock here in Brazil with Coutinho's death. By far, the best documentarist here.

  • murdered by son!? any idea why?

  • Daniel (41) E. Coutinho's son and diagnosed schizophrenia; after stabing his father and atempting murdering his mother, went out all blooded and said to the neighbours Eu libertei meu pai, tentei libertar a minha mãe e não consegui. E também tentei me libertar com duas facadas no abdômen, mas não consegui

    I translate: "I freed my father, I tried to free my mother but I didn't manage. I did also try to free myself with two stabs in the abdomen but didn't mange"

    Source: O Globo, Rio

    Being killed by your son it's a tough one :-( Same time schizophrenia can easily turn a descent to the abysms... my best friend suicided by poring gasoline and lighting himself... just imagine the state of someone to go as "far" and the trauma for family and friends

    Anyway, both of them will probably and hopefully be remembered by their work; valeu braço!

  • His son suffers from schizophrenia. Killed his father, tried to kill his mother (she is in the hospital, in bad condition) and stabbed himself - after this he knocked on the door of a neighbor's house, covered in blood and speaking nonsense things. Very sad story.

  • I just do not understand why it is in the news around the world.

  • My dear @Vitaliy_Kiselev I don't know about the world, what I can tell you is that a good carioca friend (from Rio) knew Eduardo and has the deepest respect for him and his work.

    It also seems as somethin' of "relative" interest for PV community as this guy made superb docus. More or less the same with Hoffman but as a mainstream counterpart.

    If you feel/think this topic should not exist, go ahead and delete it, I just hope we're not getting in the media-feeding-us discussion again, please... let's say it's an homage to a great documentary worker and person =)

  • :-) I think you got it wrong. I do not mean that it has not place on PV. I am confused that it is in the TV and media news. I am always confused why artists and directors are always mentioned in such cases, as I personally think that most of this people did nothing to deserve it.

  • most of this people did nothing to deserve it

    I guess we can agree that their mediatization has nothing to do with merit, at least the fact of being killed or OD.
    On the other hand they are "cultural assets"... in the sense that any culture survival is ultimately based in its rituals being visible>trended>acknowledged and accepted, IMHO.

    If I think too long over it I always get cultural cosmic panic :P Then the idea of limitations and being limited, both by our own "nature" and by the group survival biomechanic's needs (don't you love ants?) is at least something real and palpable one can work on/over/under/pararel/within and frankly quite the only exonerating and redeeming antidote=attitude.

    Sorry Vitaliy I drift, what were we talking about? Ah yes, TV

  • People use art to escape their own lives. When some artists who help create this "world" in which the people escape to die, well then a little piece of that person dies as well.

  • That's a good way to put it @vicharris

  • R.I.P. Hoffman, loved you especially in Happiness.

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  • As for Eduardo Coutinho, he was the most important brazilian documentarist alive (until yesterday, unfortunately...). He started as a screenwriter in the "Cinema Novo" movement and later became a respected documentarist. His seminal work "Cabra Marcado para Morrer" (1964-1985) was very influential as it resulted in a a movie that began as a fictional feature, than the shooting was interrupted by the military strike. Some of the crew members managed to escape the army but many of the locals that took part of the film (wich criticized the murder of a land league leader) were arrested and tortured. In 1984 Coutinho reunited some of the people that participated in that work as the Military Regime was fading out and recounted that story in the documentary genre. It really worth wachting.

  • Coutinho, in a way, "re-invented" the documentary. His camera "wasn't there": people talked directly to the viewer, even if they were been interviewed by Coutinho. And always about good/important matters/themes.

  • I forgot to mention that since last year he was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.