…And the World Laughs is a 1948 Brazilian musical and comedy film directed by Watson Macedo.[1][2] According to the Dicionário de Filmes Brasileiros (Brazilian Film Dictionary), organized by Antonio Leão, it marks "the moment when Watson Macedo begins to chart the path of what came to be called musical chanchada."[3]
According to O Cruzeiro magazine, "The main flaw of this Atlântida production is in the script. And this is mainly what irritates the most in national cinema. Since there were possibilities to present a technically acceptable show, why use such a disjointed story, a mere pretext to showcase some musical numbers with the inevitable radio artists of our time?"[4]
The film is also referred to as And the World Has Fun (a more literal translation of the original Portuguese title, ...E o mundo se diverte.)[5]
Plot
A theater typist facing financial crisis is mistakenly diagnosed with only a short time left to live because a mix-up at the clinic exchanged his X-ray with that of another patient. His colleagues decide to fulfill all his wishes to give him a "happy end." The typist’s dream is to produce a revista, which no one believes in, but paradoxically ends up saving the theater from bankruptcy. In the end, the mix-up is discovered, and the theater janitor marries the theater director's daughter.[6]
Ave sem Nunho: with Horacina Corrêa; composers: Luiz Soberano and Osvaldo Fonseca.
Espanhola Diferente: with Ruy Rey; composers: Nássara and Peterpan.
Tabuleiro da Baiana: with Eliana and Quitandinha Serenaders; composer: Ary Barroso.
Reception
The film was noted for the use of a plot device that consists of swapping the attributes of opposite types of characters (male/female voices; dead/healthy person’s x-ray sheets).[10]
References
^"…And the World Laughs" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Cinemateca Brasileira. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
^Novais Cioccio, Sandra Cristina (2015). "Singers and Songs in Atlântida Films"(PDF) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música do Instituto de Artes da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, p.68-69. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
