Luís Miguel Cintra

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Inasmuch as Manoel de Oliveira’s films convey what Randal Johnson describes as a cinematic hybridity that illustrates the amorphous nature of representation, No, or the Vain Glory of Command also reflects a temporal hybridity, where time is presented as a conflation of seemingly arbitrary, but integrally connected history. Opening to a long take of a large ancient tree shot from a moving camera platform in the African wilderness, the correlation between enduring image and its representation through a constantly shifting point of view also serves as a contemporary metaphor for Portuguese history itself, where its consequences continue to be re-evaluated through the shifting perspective of an increasingly marginalized legacy. Read More »

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Laura lives in Vouzela with her husband, considerably older than her. When Nuno, her brother, come to visit, he realizes that Laura does not have a happy life. In turn, Nuno initiates a friendship with a helper on the farm of his brother.Read More »

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A Raiz do Coração (A Root of the Heart) is a Portuguese film set in the Lisbon during the festivities of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lovers and the old town. The story is about Cato, a nationalist politician who is charismatic and unscrupulous. He obsessively pursues Silvia, a mystical and mysterious young transvestite whom he meets at the festival. When Silvia runs into Vicente, a policeman who arrests transvestites and threatens them, Silvia must look towards blackmail to save herself. Compromising photos of Cato start to emerge among opposition parties and he must do all in his power to save his political career.Read More »

imdb wrote:
The dates of the exhibit have been set. Bernd Hoffmann is in Lisbon, which he had already visited in 1974, when he met the young artist Hanna Brauer. The exhibit will present paintings by both artists. Bernd is waiting for Hanna, but neither she nor her paintings seem to have arrived in Portugal. And yet he knows that the woman is in Lisbon. He looks for her among his old revolutionary friends, then turns to the police for help. He discovers that Hanna is dead. A natural death? Suicide?Read More »

In this artful film by 85-year old director Manoel de Oliveira, the heroine, instead of being powerless in the face of a world ruled by men, finds herself to be far too powerful. Beginning when she was a child, Ema (Leonor Silveira as an adult) had the kind of looks and manner that could stop cars when she came up to a street — or cause accidents. As time goes by, she explores her power over men and, as a mature woman, chooses to marry a man who has virtually no machismo so that she can continue having affairs and exploring this mysterious ability of hers. Eventually she seeks to transcend her unusual limitation and accomplishes her death with astonishing serenity. This haunting story is based on a novel by Agustina Bessa-Luis.Read More »

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Ignoring the alarmed advice of his noblemen and counselors, young King Sebastian fuels his religious obsession to go to war with the Muslims. They warn that Portugal can’t afford it, but he brushes them off. Even his mother, Queen Catarina, cannot sway his fervor to fight the infidels, expand his kingdom and achieve glory. A mysterious figure called the Holy Cobbler challenges his fanatical ideas, calling down ghostly voices to talk to him. But he is no wiser the next morning.Read More »

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In this artful film by 85-year old director Manoel de Oliveira, the heroine, instead of being powerless in the face of a world ruled by men, finds herself to be far too powerful. Beginning when she was a child, Ema (Leonor Silveira as an adult) had the kind of looks and manner that could stop cars when she came up to a street — or cause accidents. As time goes by, she explores her power over men and, as a mature woman, chooses to marry a man who has virtually no machismo so that she can continue having affairs and exploring this mysterious ability of hers. Eventually she seeks to transcend her unusual limitation and accomplishes her death with astonishing serenity. This haunting story is based on a novel by Agustina Bessa-Luis.Read More »

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Inquietude, also known as Anxiety, is a movie in three parts; a one-act play, a short story, and a fable, bringing them all together brilliantly. It may seem talky at first, but there is some genuine thought going on behind the talk, and some of the images are gorgeous.Read More »

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Miguel is a successful economist until his father’s death plunges him into a strange obscure world of fears, strange sounds and psychological isolation. He quits his job, drifts away from his wife and initiates a process of physical disintegration. He will reach the bottom before he starts seeing the light. As an echo to his journey, we follow, faraway in the countryside, the story of a crime and its redemption, the story of Antonio and Cecilia. From death to the miracle of life, here on earth.Read More »