Political Cinema as the Reproduction of Collective Subjectivity A Case Study of Bacurau (2019)

Csaba András

doi:10.5195/cinej.2026.965

Political Cinema as the Reproduction of Collective Subjectivity A Case Study of Bacurau (2019)

Authors

Csaba András Univeristy of Pécs https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8482-9702

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.965

Keywords:

Political Cinema, collective subjectivity, populism, Bacurau, Alain Badiou

Abstract

This article interprets Bacurau (2019) as a cinematic model for the reproduction of collective political subjectivity. Rather than confirming the modern thesis that “the people are missing,” the film stages the reactivation of a historically sedimented communal form grounded in shared memory, spatial practices, and genre transformation. Drawing on Ernesto Laclau’s theory of populist articulation and Alain Badiou’s concept of fidelity to an event, the study argues that Bacurau mobilizes populist aesthetic devices while ultimately anchoring collective agency in loyalty to the Canudos rebellion as an enduring rupture. Through its revisionist western framework and radicalized aesthetics of violence, the film renders perceptible a collective “we” that persists beneath contemporary regimes of enforced individualization.

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Published

2026-06-28

How to Cite

András, C. (2026). Political Cinema as the Reproduction of Collective Subjectivity A Case Study of Bacurau (2019). CINEJ Cinema Journal, 14(1), 828–854. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.965

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Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026): Spring

Section

Articles

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