He directed the film To the Left of the Father (Lavoura Arcaica) (2001),[12][13] based on the homonymous novel by Raduan Nassar, cited by the critic Jean-Philippe Tessé in the French magazine Cahiers du Cinéma as a "ground-breaking promise of renovation, of an upheaval not seen in Brazilian cinema since Glauber Rocha,[14][15] which won over 50 national and international awards.
[16] The telenovelas Renascer (Rebirth) (1993) and The King of the Cattle (O Rei do Gado) (1996), by screenwriter Benedito Ruy Barbosa and directed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho, are recognized as benchmarks of Brazilian television drama and achieved some of the highest audience ratings of the 1990s.
[19][20] The director's production process is renowned for identifying new talent from all over Brazil and for training actors,[21] revealing new stars of the dramatic arts such as Letícia Sabatella, Eliane Giardini, Bruna Linzmeyer, Johnny Massaro, Irandhir Santos, Simone Spoladore, Caco Ciocler, Marcello Antony, Marco Ricca, Isabel Fillardis, Giselle Itié, Emilio Orciollo Netto, Sheron Menezes, Jackson Antunes, Maria Luísa Mendonça, Eduardo Moscovis, Jackson Costa, Leonardo Vieira, Cacá Carvalho, Luciana Braga, Julia Dalavia, Renato Góes, Cyria Coentro, Marina Nery, Júlio Machado, Bárbara Reis, Lee Taylor, Zezita de Matos, Mariene de Castro and Lucy Alves, among others.
Early in the 90s, Luiz Fernando Carvalho directed a 40-chapter mini-series written by Aguinaldo Silva, based on the work of José Lins do Rego and starring Vera Fischer, Osmar Prado, Sebastião Vasconcelos, Carlos Alberto Riccelli and Fernanda Montenegro, with costumes by Beth Filipecki.
The enormous success of the sequence, confirmed by the record number of requests by viewers for a rerun, was decisive in the transformation of the material into a telefilm, with additional scenes written by Braulio Tavares and interpreted by the actor and musician Antonio Nóbrega.
[27] The 1993 soap, written by Benedito Ruy Barbosa and directed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho, met with critical and public acclaim and was the most-watched in the 90s and 4th in audience ratings in the history of Brazilian television.
With A Woman dressed in Sun (Uma Mulher Vestida de Sol), the director commenced his exploration of the limits of television language, combining elements of the popular theater of the Northeast.
[32] One year after A Woman dressed in Sun (Uma Mulher Vestida de Sol), in 1995, Luiz Fernando Carvalho resumed his connection with the writer Ariano Suassuna, this time transforming the play The Farce of Pleasant Idleness (A Farsa da Boa Preguiça) into a telefilm .
The cast included Antônio Fagundes, Glória Pires, Patricia Pillar, Leticia Spiller and Raul Cortez with guest appearances in the early stages by Tarcisio Meira, Eva Wilma and Vera Fischer.
The quality of the first seven chapters of The King of the Cattle (O Rei do Gado), showing the decline of the coffee cycle and Brazil's participation in World War II, prompted The Globo Network's International Division to transform the first part of the novela into the mini-series Giovanna and Henrico, with Letícia Spiller and Leonardo Brício playing the lead couple.
Aiming to maintain the connection with the poetic prose of Raduan Nassar's book, the director elected to film without a defined script, based entirely on the actors' improvisations on the theme.
[44] The film's creation and production process was discussed in the book About To the Left of The Father ("Sobre Lavoura Arcaica"), in which the director is interviewed by José Carlos Avellar, Geraldo Sarno, Miguel Pereira, Ivana Bentes, Arnaldo Carrilho and Liliane Heynemann, launched in Portuguese, English and French by the publisher Ateliê Editorial.
The script was the work of Luiz Fernando Carvalho, in collaboration with Luis Alberto de Abreu and Braulio Tavares, direction of photography by Adrian Teijido, scenography by João Irenio Maia, editing by Marcio Hashimoto and costumes by Luciana Buarque.
Ariano Suassuna affirmed that Luiz Fernando Carvalho's recreation of his Romance d’A Pedra do Reino resulted in an "extraordinarily beautiful work that moved him as author and individual, as a spectator".
In addition to Stone of the Kingdom, the Quadrante is made up of the mini-series Capitu (2008), based on the book Dom Casmurro, by Machado de Assis, and Dois Irmãos (2017), by Milton Hatoum.
[85][86] The mini-series, created and written by the director in partnership with Paulo Lins, counted on the collaboration of Adrian Teijido (Photography), Luciana Buarque (Costumes), Marcio Hashimoto (Editing) and Sergio Pasqualino (Colorist).
Adapted by Maria Camargo, the series was shown in 2013 as part of the program Fantástico,[90] with costumes by Thanara Schönardie and Luciana Buarque, photography by Mikeas and edited by Marcio Hashimoto.
In addition to My Little Plot of Land (Meu Pedacinho de Chão), the works Female Messages (Correio Feminino), Alexander and Other Heroes (Alexandre e Outros Heróis), Old River (Velho Chico) and The Brothers (Dois Irmãos) were created in the Galpão.
The whole process of creation and production of the novela in the Galpão is described by the journalist Melina Dalboni in the book Meu Pedacinho de Chão, which has drawings, sketches and photos by the director and the team (published by Casa da Palavra).
The critic Cristina Padiglione regards the novela as worthy of a standing ovation, and in the opinion of Alexandra Moraes "the images, at first sight childish, gain relevance with colors and effects of dramatic intent.
[111][112] In 2016, Old River (Velho Chico) marked Luiz Fernando Carvalho's return to prime time,[113] directing the novela written by Benedito Ruy Barbosa and Bruno Luperi, which again carried the imprint of the new esthetic in TV drama.
Highlights were the photography[117] and acclaimed performances by the actors Antônio Fagundes, Lucy Alves, Domingos Montagner, Lee Taylor, Marcos Palmeira, Chico Diaz, Renato Góes, Rodrigo Lombardi, Dira Paes, Irandhir Santos, Fabiula Nascimento, Julia Dalavia, Cyria Coentro, Barbara Reis, Julio Machado, Umberto Magnani, Camila Pitanga, Christiane Torloni, Marcelo Serrado, Gabriel Leone, Giulia Buscaccio, Mariene de Castro, Gésio Amadeu, José Dumont, Marcélia Cartaxo and others.
[4] Screened in 2017, the mini-series written by Maria Camargo based on the homonymous novel by Milton Hatoum was regarded by critics as another quality contribution to Brazilian television on account of the poetic style applied by the director to the adaptation of the novel.
[155][156][157][158][159] Direction of photography by Alexandre Fructuoso, costumes by Thanara Schönardie, scenography by Danielly Ramos, Juliana Carneiro and Mariana Villas-Bôas, art production by Marco Cortez and Myriam Mendes.
[161] Careers launched in Two Brothers include actors Matheus Abreu (Omar and Yaqub as an adolescent), the indigenous Zahy Guajajara (the índia Domingas) and the singer Bruna Caram (Rânia in the adult phase).
The quality of the acting of the whole cast was stressed by the critics and also on social media and reached the worldwide and Brazilian Trending Topics throughout the series: Eliane Giardini and Juliana Paes as Zana; Antônio Fagundes and Antonio Calloni as Halim; and Cauã Reymond and Matheus Abreu as the twins Omar and Yaqub.
In addition, Luiz Fernando Carvalho inaugurated, on TV, the dialogue between the fictional scenes and images from the archives of Brazilian History, with the research of historical material done by Raquel Couto.
[180] [181] [182] [183] [184] [185] [186] [187] [188][189] IndependênciaS was a drama series in 16 episodes developed by Carvalho and written by Luis Alberto de Abreu, Alex Moletta, Paulo Garfunkel and Melina Dalboni with the collaboration of Kaká Werá Djecupé, Ynaê Lopes dos Santos, Cidinha da Silva and Tiganá Santana.
"[193] According to the philosopher, sociologist and regional director of Sesc-SP, Danilo Santos de Miranda, the first episode "left us all impacted by the sheer artistic beauty and the much-needed fresh approach to this chapter of our history.
"[195] In the article by critic, Rodrigo Fonseca, "The first episode (...) is synesthetic splendor, mixing file images of villages, photos, paintings and a stunning performance by Ilana Kaplan as Carlota Joaquina.