
A young French actress in Lisbon to shoot a movie is intrigued by a nun she sees kneeling in the chapel where she is filming.
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Tag Archives: portuguese
Atrás das Nuvens / Behind the Clouds (2007) Jorge Queiroga, Nicolau Breyner, Ruben Silva, Sofia Grilo, Drama, Family, Fantasy

Jorge Queiroga’s magic realist drama Behind the Clouds concerns young Paulo, a little boy bereft of his father, whose widowed mother ardently refuses to grant him permission to meet his paternal granddad. When Paulo reaches the age of 10, he expressly defies his mother’s orders by making a secret journey to his grandfather’s home, in a remote part of the country. Once there, he finds a fantastic invention: a little red car with the ability to take him soaring high into the clouds, and the added ability to send him spiraling backward in time. Alas, Paulo’s grandfather grows increasingly distraught over the time travel element, and in the process, Paulo arrives at some sobering and disillusioning realizations about the mystery surrounding his clan.
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Se Eu Fosse Ladrão, Roubava / If I Were a Thief… I’d Steal (2013) Paulo Rocha, Norberto Barroca, Márcia Breia, Joana Bárcia, Drama

1920s. Vitalino, a small farmer from São Vicente sees his father die of the epidemic which decimated the country. Some years later, of all the brothers, Vitalino is the strongest and takes his father’s place in the house. But the village is too small for his aspirations and he decides to head to Brazil, leaving his sisters in charge of the household. In parallel with Vitalino’s story, If I Were a Thief… I’d Steal portrays the world of Paulo Rocha rummaging through his films and ghosts over the years.
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Noite Escura / In the Darkness of the Night (2004) João Canijo, Fernando Luís, Rita Blanco, Beatriz Batarda, Drama, Crime

João Canijo latest movie adapts a Greek tragedy “Ifigénia en Aulis” to a provincial Portuguese family that has to deal with the Russian Mafia after a deal went wrong. In a place where everything is bought and sold even the youngest daughter may have to be offered for prostitution to make up for a deal that went terribly wrong. “Noite Escura” deals with the emotions of a small family that runs a provincial whorehouse, having to sell their youngest in order to survive.
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Transe / Trance (2006) Teresa Villaverde, Ana Moreira, Viktor Rakov, Robinson Stévenin

Sonia, a girl from St Petersburg, decides to seek a better life in western Europe. She first gets a job at a car dealer in Germany. But she is suddenly kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. She will be dragged from country to country and resistance will only bring her misery and humiliation.
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L’assedio / Besieged (1998) Thandie Newton, David Thewlis, Claudio Santamaria, Bernardo Bertolucci

When an African dictator jails her husband, Shandurai goes into exile in Italy, studying medicine and keeping house for Mr. Kinsky, an eccentric English pianist and composer. She lives in one room of his Roman palazzo. He besieges her with flowers, gifts, and music, declaring passionately that he loves her, would go to Africa with her, would do anything for her. “What do you know of Africa?,” she asks, then, in anguish, shouts, “Get my husband out of jail!” The rest of the film plays out the implications of this scene and leaves Shandurai with a choice.
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Árido Movie (2005) Lírio Ferreira, Guilherme Weber, Giulia Gam, José Dumont

Weatherman from a TV network goes back to his hometown, Vale da Rocha, a place in Northeast Brazil, devastated by the drought. He is forced to face the geographic elements and his own memories.
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