Eu matei Lúcio Flávio (1979) as precursor to the narratives of the current conservative counteroffensive

Abstract

In this article we present a content analysis of the film Eu matei Lúcio Flávio (1979), by Antônio Calmon, in order to demonstrate how the diegetic universe of the film contains symbolic elements that are also noticeable in the maxims adopted by the exponents of the current conservative counteroffensive. That is, the current conservative wave mobilizes certain narrative elements also present in this film from the 1970s. Thus, the film mobilizes the conventions of the North American police/vigilante cinema from the 1970s to establish the image of the Death Squad policeman Mariel Maryscôtt de Mattos as responsible for guaranteeing law and order in the city of Rio de Janeiro (undoubtedly menaced by both organized crime and the decadence of part of its population) when he is granted permission to use sacred violence in the war against the profane violence of criminals like Lúcio Flávio, well-known bank robber of the time. Also based on certain works by Isabela Kalil, Letícia Cesarino and Luc Boltanski, this article therefore aims to highlight that the maxims of today's far-right precede it by a few decades.