The claws of ideology: censorship and subtitling of war films during the Estado Novo in Portugal

Abstract

By analysing the context of censorship, fascism under the Estado Novo in Portugal and the institutionalised processes a film was subjected to before reaching the audience, some historical events, which resulted in a tightening of the censors’ reigns, will be explored. The Guerra Colonial [Colonial War] was one of the life-changing events that had a direct impact on the censorship of war films. Three films from different eras, the censorship measures − cuts, omitted subtitles and manipulation of the text − and their contents will be examined. The extent to which censorship was able to change the substance of a film will become apparent.