Se inicia como director de largometrajes con El inglés de los güesos, uno de los esporádicos encuentros de la época entre la literatura y el cine. Se le considera el pionero del género erótico en el cine argentino con Safo, historia de una pasión.
Combinó las comedias de entretenimiento con filmes de marcada tendencia erótica y conjugó ambos elementos en cintas como Adán y la serpiente. También incursionó en el género policial (La muerte camina en la lluvia, No abras nunca esa puerta y Si muero antes de despertar), considera esta última su mejor trabajo para el cine argentino. A partir de 1960 se radica en Brasil, donde continuó su carrera como cineasta.
El 30 de noviembre de 1999 fallece como consecuencia de un ataque cardíaco en su domicilio de Río de Janeiro, dejando sin completar el filme La casa de azúcar, basado en un cuento de Silvina Ocampo.
Filmografía
1940 El inglés de los güesos
1941 Noche de bodas / Aguila Blanca
1942 Los chicos crecen / La novia de primavera
1943 16 años / Safo, historia de una pasión
1944 La pequeña señora de Pérez
1945 Las seis suegras de Barba Azul / El canto del cisne / La señora de Pérez se divorcia
1946 Adán y la serpiente / El ángel desnudo / La dama de la muerte, (Chile)
1947 Los verdes paraísos / Con el diablo en el cuerpo
1948 Los pulpos / La muerte camina en la lluvia / Una atrevida aventurita
1949 ¿Por qué mintió la cigüeña? / El demonio es un ángel, (Venezuela) / La trampa.
1950 La balandra Isabel llegó esta tarde (Venezuela)
1952 Si muero antes de despertar / No abras nunca esa puerta
1953 Un ángel sin pudor / Armiño negro
1954 María Magdalena
1955 Maos Sangrentas (Manos Sangrientas), Brasil
1956 Leonora dos Sete Mares, Brasil
1958 Mis amores en Río
1960 Matemática 0, Amor 10 (remake de La pequeña señora de Pérez, 1944), Brasil
1961 Amor para tres (remake de La señora de Pérez se divorcia, 1945), Brasil
1962 Esse Rio que Eu Amo (Ese Río que yo amo), Brasil
1963 O Rei Pelé (El Rey Pelè), Brasil
1964 Viagem aos Seios de Duilia, Brasil
1965 Crónica da Cidade Amada, Brasil
1967 O Menino e o Vento, Brasil
1968 Como Matar Um Play-boy , Brasil
1970 Anjos e Demonios, Brasil
1972 Uma Pantera em Minha Cama, Brasil
1974 Caingangue, a Pontaria do Diabo, Brasil
1975 Enigma para Demonios, Brasil
1977 A Mulher do Desejo, Brasil
1979 A Morte Transparente, Brasil
1980 A Intrusa (La intrusa), Brasil
1982 ¿Somos?, Argentina
1996 A Casa de Açucar (La casa de azúcar), coproducción argentino-brasileña
Carlos Hugo Christensen (1914-1999) was born in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. He is considered one of the most prolific filmmakers in the history of Latin-American cinema.
A pioneer in the film industry, his love for literature combined with a forward-thinking attitude towards sexuality, resulted in a unique point of view which infused Argentine cinema of the forties and fifties with his trademark touch of audacity and veiled eroticism. Films such as Safo, historia de una pasión (1943), where Mecha Ortiz and Roberto Escalada smoked after an implied sexual encounter, or El ángel desnudo (1946), where famed Argentinean screen goddess Olga Zubarry bared her naked back to the camera in the first ever nude scene in Argentine history, or Adan y la serpiente (1946) where Tilda Thamar exhibited a two piece bathing suit for the first time in Latin American film, pushed the sexual envelope and sparked a lot of controversy and debate.
In 1954, Christensen's anti-Peron sentiments resulted in his political exile from Argentina, as part of the largest persecution of the artistic community and intellectual class in the country's history. This landed Christensen in Brazil, where he completed the first Technicolor film ever to be shot there, Meus Amores No Rio, which was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1959. A contemporary of world-renowned Argentinean author Jorge Luis Borges, Christensen is the only director to have adapted many of Borges' short stories to the screen, including the incendiary La intrusa, a feature film centering on the relationship between two homosexual gauchos (Argentine cowboys) which was banned from cinemas throughout Latin America, but was the official selection representing Brazil at the Montreal International Film Festival in 1980.
Within a career that spanned seven decades, he completed 55 films, most of them comedies, melodramas or film noir, the majority of which he wrote, directed and produced. His films have each garnered numerous awards including Best Director and Best Film prizes, in countless festivals and award ceremonies throughout the world. Among his many cinematic distinctions, some of the most internationally notable include: Grand Prize of the Festival (Nomination), Cannes International Film Festival for La ballandra Isabel llegó esta tarde (1951); Venice International Film Festival, Official Selection, Brazil, for Maos Sangrentas (1955); Golden Berlin Bear (Nomination), Berlin International Film Festival for Meus Amores No Rio (1959).
Although best known for his film work, Christensen was also an accomplished poet, publishing his first volume of poetry El libro del primer amor at the tender age of 18. His next poetic compilation El mar ante la playa, was published to great critical acclaim shortly after, as was his first short story Adolescencia. Armed with literary success, he abandoned his studies at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (University of Philosophy and Letters) in Buenos Aires, and began working as a journalist. From there he moved on to radio, then to writing and directing plays, and finally to what he is best known for, film. He continued to write poetry throughout his life; his final book of poetry Poemas Para Os Amigos was published shortly before his death in 1999.
Among the innumerable personal honors and tributes he has received, the final one to date came shortly before his death, at the 18th Festival des 3 Continents, in Nantes (France), where eight of his feature films were selected to be screened as part of an exhibit dedicated to melodrama in Argentine cinema. His work has continued being screened Posthumously around the world , at so important venues as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His multi award-winning film La ballandra Isabel llegó esta tarde was screen in Los Angeles in June 2007, as the only Spanish Language film of the 21st Annual Last Remaining Seats Series, alongside to remarkable films as North by Northwest, Roman Holiday, Flesh and the Devil or Scarface.
“Nuestro objetivo final es nada menos que lograr la integración del cine latinoamericano.
Así de simple, y así de desmesurado”.
