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Those who saw Helena Ignez in the early 60’s in films like O Pátio, A Grande Feira, Assalto ao Trem Pagador or even in her first appearance on the cover of Cruzeiro magazine would find hard to believe in such a mighty transformation, such an unexpected outburst. That beautifully shaped woman with so kind manners – and at this point we have in mind one of her most important parts, as Mariana in O Padre e a Moça – would also reveal herself capable of raising commotions with gestures of extreme intensity in the films made by a young visionary director from Joaçaba, Santa Catarina. Later he would work as critic for the Jornal da Tarde, São Paulo. This new talented director, on his first feature film, offered to Helen Ignez the part of Janete Jane, a tramp. We are talking about O Bandido da Luz Vermelha and that young filmmaker was Rogério Sganzerla.
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But Helena Ignez is not only a seducing presence. Mostly from the 70’s onward, in the films produced by Belair Company (her joint venture with Julio Bressane and Sganzerla), Helena’s performance becomes physical, non-psychological, turning her body into an amazing receptacle for the avant-garde researches of that time, and her profound denial of psychological and introspective characters. Angela Flesh and Bone is open to experiment abstractions and aberrancies in films like A Família do Barulho, Cuidado, Madame, Sem Essa Aranha, Copacabana mon amour and Os Monstros de Babaloo. Nowadays, we can see Helena mostly in the theater. Among he recent works we can mention Os Sete Afluentes do Rio Ota (directed by Monique Gardenberg), Antiga, by Dionísio Neto and in the play Savannah Bay, by Marguerite Duras, directed by Rogério Sganzerla. On the screen, her last appearance is in Sganzerla’s O Signo do Caos, to be released yet. This homage Femina pays to her is more than a tribute to one of the most important actress of Brazilian cinema, it is a precious occasion to see her acting within her true environment: the stage. Do not miss it. |
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This match became a whole life marriage and was crucial for the artistic career of both. There is a perfect synergy, a deep synchronicity in the way they are and express themselves. Everything the actress-body Helena Ignez expects is fulfilled by the feelings that Sganzerla wishes to express, thus creating a decisive and existential artistic partnership.