Les meilleurs films portugais selon Cyril Abadie

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7.1

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#13.
As a contemporary alternative to Gustave Flaubert’s novel, Madame Bovary (1856), and adapted from Agustina Bessa-Luis’ 1993 Portuguese novel Valley of Abraham, this film was considered by many European critics to be Manoel de Oliveira’s masterpiece.

The film’s heavy influence on national cinema is evident— it is 3 hours 7 minutes long, includes the director’s literary narration fused with delicate music, is set in the vine-terraced Douro valley (one of Manoel de Oliveira’s favorite landscapes and places to film), and has wonderfully framed long takes and stunning cinematography. Leonor Silveira, the heroine, portrays an elegant and mysterious Portuguese version of Emma Bovary who marries one of her father’s friends. They move to the Valley of Abraham, and when she becomes bored with her marriage, she takes a lover.

Not the easiest de Oliveira film to watch, but worthwhile for his techniques and style. The sub-genre created is based on long compositions and detail only possible in de Oliveira’s work, all of which are emphasized herein.

7.5

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#8.
João César Monteiro (1939-2003) remains one of the most eccentric of all Portuguese filmmakers. He is characterized best by his contribution to postwar European cinema, but is only now becoming more recognized for it. There’s much to be said about this man, but there’s a trilogy that reveals it better.

This film is the first installment of said trilogy – all but one appearing on this list – about a man called João de Deus (John of God), a depraved, philosophical, outrageous alter-ego of the director. The trilogy explores autobiographical aspects of Monteiro’s life in a sarcastic, ill-tempered manner—in a world that is entirely his own. Raised in an extremely Catholic family, but an atheist as an adult, the director pays special tribute to the Portuguese-born patron saint of prostitutes, João de Deus.

There’s an inherent visual style that works through sunlight and natural shadows , which adds authenticity to the film. The film, which includes consequent disasters with the police, is enveloped around a story about being poor, getting rich, and losing everything again. One of cinema’s greatest contemporary filmmakers, all whose films are important contributions to Portuguese cinema.

7.7

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#5.
The second installment of the trilogy of Deus (God) brings back the skinny, old, perverted and philosophical man we got to met in the first film. Once more, the director proves he has created a unique, timeless character. Not once does he lose his poise; even when defied by stronger men, or after uttering the most outrageous, depraved words to much younger women.

What would seem unthinkable becomes humorous in how he ridicules everything and everyone with an aristocratic, well-spoken, playful tone. God’s Comedy demonstrates to viewers the power of satire, which Monteiro does so well, along with his passion for challenging ethics, Christian morals, politics, good manners, society, etc.

“Recollections” first brought us this style, but Comedy is the film in which the audience views the character as he doubtlessly is. It gives us wiser words, puns and retorts, greater shots without a need for dialogue. Undoubtedly, Monteiro’s devotion to the French Nouvelle Vague and to cinéma d’auteur, in which he has undeniably outdone himself.

7.6

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#17.
This docufiction, which explores social injustice, is the second in a trilogy of films by Pedro Costa.. All three films are a must-see, but. In Vanda’s Room is possibly the one with the most disturbing outlook on the lives of the miserable during the turn of this century.

In a Lisbon slum, the audience is transported toVanda’s room; she is with her sister, smokingand doing hard drugs, worrying about the machines trying to overthrow her neighborhood. The brutality of Vanda’s and the others’ daily lives is complimented by the fictional narrative, which allows us to deeply care about these characters.

By choosing a MiniDV to film a story, whilst leaning over broken down characters and spaces on the verge of destruction, Costa creates a three hour-long epic of meticulous framings, lavish chiaroscuro, and phantasmagoric lights. In Vanda’s Room delivers, to the viewers, the brilliance of Costa’s fiction, while depicting politics that toy with the idea of using bulldozers to take care of a problem, underlining its revelance to Portuguese cinema.

7.3

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7.1

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#9.
After he received recognition for his previously mentioned film, Our Beloved Month of August, Miguel Gomes brought us Tabu, cinephile’s homage to F.W. Murnau’s 1931 docufiction of the same title.

The possibility of love and the lack thereof, between Portugal and Mozambique, is black and white film, half of it shot on 35mm, the other half on 16mm film. There are two different stories in different two contexts: one set in a colonial society in Africa and the other in post-colonial society in Portugal. At first, viewers find three women – an old eccentric lady called Aurora, her underestimated Cape Verdean maid, and her worrying neighbor. After a strange request from the old lady, the other two leave in search for a man, who they find is not so sane either, but has a story to tell from fifty years before that involves Aurora.

A memorable film whose technical aspects give it the imagery, music, and ambience and is only perfected by the director’s outstanding input.

7.4

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6.7

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7.3

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#11.
A groundbreaking film in the Portuguese New Wave, The Green Years captured the attention of international critics, who praised this New Portuguese Cinema for escaping the standards set by Portuguese dictator Salazar and the “Estado Novo” (lit. “New State”), which promoted a number of traditional values based on the state’s primary guidelines. The film is significant because of the portrayal—through different points of view—of urban environments, the passage from rural to urban relevant in Portuguese history, the discomfort of inedequacy, and the gradual transformation of Lisbon to a more contemporary capital.

Today, it’s an important piece on what Lisbon was like in the beginning of the 1960s, as wellthe despair of younger generations trying to make a living. It features a wonderful soundtrack by musician Carlos Paredes, known as the master of the Portuguese guitar, whose song “Verdes Anos” became extremely popular ever since. Rocha’s contribution to Portugal’s New Cinema lasted the rest of his life with utmost devotion.

7.8

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7.3

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6.6

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#1.
“Aniki-Bóbó,” a rhyme from a children’s game such as “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” is also Manoel de Oliveira’s feature-length debut of the same name—a tale of children in Porto, his hometown

Aniki-Bóbó is the grand Portuguese film of the 40s; the film that always comes to mind when one is thinking of the cinematographic productions of the decade. Unloved when it opened in 1942, the film was later re-evaluated after the success of two other films directed by de Oliveira. Aniki-Bóbó then received its first references in the most important cinema magazine of the time, Cahiers du Cinéma, including a reference by André Bazin in 1957.

The poetical realism present in the film, which is created through the authentic Portuguese culture and traditions, underlined its connection and suspected anticipation to Italian cinema; yet the film also gave a much needed raw focus on child labor. Children are filmed as adults, with issues, passions, needs and attitudes in order to make the audience understand their isolation – a social metaphor – and their lives in the middle of World War II. The photography and director’s work are most noticeable in the long takes typical in Manoel de Oliveira’s following films, but the narrative is fluent and engaging right until the end.

7.8

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#10.
Costa’s first feature, The Blood, includes elements which would later prove to be his usual focal points: absent parents, displacement, and unresolved pasts. After the death of their abusive and rascal father, two young brothers and a teenage sister try to tackle their way in the world, illustrating how blood ties are strong, yet not always enough.

American Actreess Michelle Carey described the film perfectly: “Filmed in milky black and white, each shot is so carefully composed the film could well be a montage of a thousand photos were it not for the emotive, intelligent dialogue, dreamy orchestral score and excellent use of pop music.”

Thus, simple elements such as quick glances and light sources build a dynamic cinematic world where shots meet and part without concern. The director used rough cuts and diegetic sound, turning it into a fragmented celluloid project in time, space, and narrative. The Blood is a brilliant anomaly of Portuguese cinema from the 1980s, bringing together Costa’s influences and attention to gesture and poise over any storytelling rule.

7.6

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6.6

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#18.
One of the movements adopted by Portuguese filmmakers at the end of the 20th century was docufiction—a genre that consists of documentaries combined with fictional elements, which is mostly based on Italy’s Neorealism and the French New Wave.

Our Beloved Month of August is primarily a comical docufiction depicting the rural side of Portugal. At first, the filmmaker Gomes searches for directiondirection through stories and interviews, as well as filming spaces and capturing natural sounds and traditional bands. The first hour is mostly pure documentary, whilst seldomly revealing its fictional side.

The film appears improvisational, as if the cameras were just let to roll. It’s not until well into the film that the audience witnesses the fictional components with only tiny facets of documentary style filmmaking. Although there is an interesting part that portrays teenage love and family issues, the film’s mixture of humor, community, and location makes it exceptional. In search of uniqueness, the mood shifts regularly, and receives the bonus points for the outstanding joke at the end.


7

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Co-production Portugo-Brésilienne.

8.3

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#16.
It took Medeiros thirteen years to make this feature film based on the Carnation Revolution, which ended The Salazar Regime, a right-wing dictatorship that ruled Portugal for forty-eight years.

Medeiros, who is best known as an actress in films such as Pulp Fiction (1994) and various Manoel de Oliveira projects, recreates the most emotional side of the military revolution through the eyes of young captains. While being clearly fictional, it is based on real stories and real people.

Even though it’s flawed structure-wise, April Captains works as an important history lesson; it has stirred up controversy for having such a decisive episode of Portuguese history directed by a woman. Clearly a theme of major importance to the director, Medeiros guides the audience, through the eyes of a child, to best represent the historical Carnation Revolution. Despite initial controversy, the film became wildly popular in Portugal; and, in 2014, it is still being shown in many classrooms.


7.1

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7.1

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7.5

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7.3

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#20.
In 2008, at 100 years old, Manoel de Oliveira was reported as the oldest active film director in the world.. He’s undeniably the most celebrated Portuguese filmmaker, directing over sixty films, and the only one whose active career has spanned from the silent era to the digital age. Thus, disagreements may transpire over his most meaningful projects, but I feel the ones included on this list capture his filmmaking with consistency.

No, or the Vain Glory of Command is based on the history of Portugal and presented through the voice of a soldier from the 1974 Colonial War. A group of Portuguese soldiers are on a military mission in Angola, and they ponder their purpose for fighting; one of soldiers discusses several episodes in Portuguese history in which Portugual has suffered failure and defeat throughout its existence.

The film is fragmented with flashbacks from tho soldier’s stories, intensifying its nostalgic feel, and combining it with a contemplation of the entire history of Portugal.

7.1

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7.3

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7.1

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7.4

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#2.
“The first Portuguese film made by Portuguese people,” as it was announced on the original promotional poster, was directed by an architect (Cottinelli Telmo), who made this his only feature film and thereby founded the “Portuguese comedy.” He combined a series of elements polished by the “New State” dictatorship, such as: fado (a Portuguese music genre), popular festivities, alcoholism, kooks from typical neighborhoods, the rich and old, the fixed up poor people, and social progression.

Without ever having filmed or entered a studio before, Cottinelli conceived and made a film which shows an extraordinary, unusual cinematographic mastery. Without argument, Cottinelli made one cheerful, lively film that gradually shows the viewers magnificent pieces of cinema, technique, and bold results. The environment channels directly into the soul of the popular, accompanied by extremely happy (and timeless) music, making it perhaps the most obvious must-see of all Portuguese films.

7.8

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6.6

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6.6

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#3.
The Tyrannical Father, another “Golden Age” film is one of the best examples of the energy and vitality of classical Portuguese comedies, and this particular film is often considered the most well composed of all of them. In the first national comedy of the 40s, after some unsucessful previous projects, the director proves his evolution in the business. This film’s main attractions are the actors Vasco Santana and Francisco Ribeiro (brother of the director and the perk of the story); it is more complex and brilliant than usual, with great influence from similar genre comedies from the USA and even Europe during the time period.

A story within a story (or an embedded fabula)—in which cinema and theater mingle with the characterization of Portuguese lives and the human condition—also exists. The film features some of the best performances in the careers of these actors, with showdown between social classes and troubles, and famous innuendos that lead up to the finest and smartest gags.

7.9

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#4.
In the “Golden Age” of Portuguese Cinema exist several classics—some present on this list, some not—from the 1930s/1940s.

The Courtyard of the Ballads takes place, as usual, in a Lisbon neighborhood, during the annual celebrations of the Popular Saints. Featuring famous actors Vasco Santana, António Silva, and Fransisco Ribeirinho (the director) himself, the film illustrates a vast number of misunderstandings and double entendres. By using a few very stereotyped characters with their own set of issues and desires, the three actors are able to perfectly capture the entire Lisbon atmosphere during such communal anniversary celebrations.The film is wonderfully tied together with subtle, yet effective, direction.

Memorable lines and gags have stuck since then, like the scene where Vasco Santana’s character goes home drunk and tries to persuade a street lamp to light his cigar. This film is certainly one of the most celebrated and beloved popular comedies of Portuguese Cinema.

7.8