Cousin Bazilio

Cousin Bazilio (aka Dragon's Teeth)
Author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz
Original title O Primo Basílio
Translator Mary Jane Serrano, Roy Campbell, Margaret Jull Costa
Country Portugal
Language Portuguese
Publication date
 1878
Published in English
 1889, 1953, 2003
ISBN 0-8371-3089-1

O Primo Basílio ("Cousin Bazilio") is one of the highest regarded realist novels of the Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, also known under the modernized spelling Eça de Queirós. He worked in the Portuguese consular service, stationed at 53 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, from late 1874 until April 1879. The novel was written during this productive period in his career, appearing in 1878.

A bowdlerized translation of this book by Mary Jane Serrano under the title Dragon's Teeth: A Novel was published in the United States in 1889,[1] still available as a print-on-demand title.[2] More accurate translations have since been published, first in 1953 by the poet Roy Campbell[3] and then in 2003 by award-winning translator Margaret Jull Costa.[4]

TV and film adaptations

The first film adaptation of a work of Queiroz was a 1922 adaptation of Cousin Bazilio by George Pallu, and the work was adapted to film 5 more times (including a 1959 Portuguese film, a 1935 Mexican film, the 1977 Spanish film Dios bendiga cada rincón de esta casa, a 1969 West German film and a 2007 Brazilian adaptation simply titled Primo Basílio[5] produced/directed by Daniel Filho, with Fábio Assunção in the role of Basílio, and Débora Falabella as Luísa, Reynaldo Gianecchini as Jorge and Glória Pires as Juliana, with the action moved from 19th century Lisbon to São Paulo of the 1950s around the time of the construction of Brasília).

In 1988 the Brazilian company Rede Globo produced a television adaptation of O Primo Basílio in 35 episodes, starring the then rising star Giulia Gam and renowned actors Marcos Paulo and Tony Ramos. Although never rerun, this production contains some of the best dramatic moments delivered by the actors involved, especially the villainous Juliana, played by Marília Pêra.

Notes

  1. ↑ See Preface to 1889 translation.
  2. ↑ ISBN 978-1-143-93942-6
  3. ↑ ISBN 978-0-85635-967-5 (1992 reprint of 1953 trans.)
  4. ↑ ISBN 978-1-903517-08-6
  5. ↑ Eça de Queiroz in the IMDB

External links