Interrupted Inscription Project: Relations Between Space and Its Actors in Pedro Costa’s “Letters From Fontainhas”

Maciej Stasiowski

Abstract

A typical movie scenery is to reflect the dilemmas of the hero and set the time and place of the action. The case of Fontainhas is special. Pedro Costa devoted three of his films to the topic: Ossos, No Quarto da Vanda and Juventude em Marcha. Space affects people and shapes their relationships and activities. The relationship with the environment is highlighted by the filming technique. In Ossos, the outskirts of Lisbon remind us of a dark maze of back rooms, and the newly formed settlement of Juventude gives the impression of a surface of an alien planet, where it is difficult to restore old relations within a group of immigrants from Cabo Verde. Crossing the boundaries between a fiction film and documentary, the director builds the film on a foundation of strong contrasts between light and shadow, and on claustrophobia and statics. From the per­spective of urban planning, Costa’s films talk about the gap between social settlement projects and spontaneous settlements in urban barrios. It is the gap that clearly shows the need for a grass-roots initiative - and ethnic culture of the residents - in creating a new environment. The text is dedicated to that need.