I strongly disliked this movie. It was a waste of time, and I would not recommend it. My reaction to it, during its viewing, varied from finding it mildly annoying, to quite infuriating.
Things being relative, I do not know what qualifies as a "spoiler". Although I do not reveal crucial plot elements, I discuss to some small extent what the movie talks about; so, please be warned about what comes next.
This movie is literally a "talking picture", and the location of the action is sometimes just a pretext. This is not the problem, though. The problem lies in the content of all that talking. Initially, it is restricted to a history lecture inspired by sites visited along the Mediterranean coast, while later it goes on and on about philosophical/political/whatever issues. The first part gives the impression of being pedantic and somewhat patronizing. It tries to be didactic, but often confounds history with fiction or legend, without qualifying the latter as such. In the second part, the level of discourse goes all the way from reciting the commonplace, to being juvenile and just plain silly! The core ideas are for the most part quite simplistic, often pure clichés, served in a pretentious faux-intellectual wrapper. They also exhibit huge political and cultural bias, which makes them sound even more hollow, and, arguably, at times questionably motivated.
As far as the acting is concerned, the film is a disappointment. The actress in the leading part, Leonor Silveira, gives new meaning to bad acting; she delivers her history recitations dryly, as if reading passages out of a middle-school history book. The little girl is cute; however, the initial cuteness of those incessant "Why mommy...?"'s becomes really annoying after a while. Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, and the other actors are trying their best, but inadvertently fall short, because of the poor script; however, the polyglot setting they are involved in is indeed an interesting idea, albeit inadequately exploited. Of all the actors, I would single out Irene Papas, who, despite the unfortunate content of her lines, shows a certain naturalness of performance, in the idiosyncrasy, mannerisms and intonation of her native tongue.
All in all, this film is very disappointing, in my opinion. The fact that it comes out of the European art-house festival circuit raises high expectations, which it fails to measure up to. Perhaps, instead of pondering which gender's rule the E.U. would be better off under, the Portuguese, Italian and French producers should concern themselves more with what European taxpayers' money is spent on... IMHO.
Things being relative, I do not know what qualifies as a "spoiler". Although I do not reveal crucial plot elements, I discuss to some small extent what the movie talks about; so, please be warned about what comes next.
This movie is literally a "talking picture", and the location of the action is sometimes just a pretext. This is not the problem, though. The problem lies in the content of all that talking. Initially, it is restricted to a history lecture inspired by sites visited along the Mediterranean coast, while later it goes on and on about philosophical/political/whatever issues. The first part gives the impression of being pedantic and somewhat patronizing. It tries to be didactic, but often confounds history with fiction or legend, without qualifying the latter as such. In the second part, the level of discourse goes all the way from reciting the commonplace, to being juvenile and just plain silly! The core ideas are for the most part quite simplistic, often pure clichés, served in a pretentious faux-intellectual wrapper. They also exhibit huge political and cultural bias, which makes them sound even more hollow, and, arguably, at times questionably motivated.
As far as the acting is concerned, the film is a disappointment. The actress in the leading part, Leonor Silveira, gives new meaning to bad acting; she delivers her history recitations dryly, as if reading passages out of a middle-school history book. The little girl is cute; however, the initial cuteness of those incessant "Why mommy...?"'s becomes really annoying after a while. Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, and the other actors are trying their best, but inadvertently fall short, because of the poor script; however, the polyglot setting they are involved in is indeed an interesting idea, albeit inadequately exploited. Of all the actors, I would single out Irene Papas, who, despite the unfortunate content of her lines, shows a certain naturalness of performance, in the idiosyncrasy, mannerisms and intonation of her native tongue.
All in all, this film is very disappointing, in my opinion. The fact that it comes out of the European art-house festival circuit raises high expectations, which it fails to measure up to. Perhaps, instead of pondering which gender's rule the E.U. would be better off under, the Portuguese, Italian and French producers should concern themselves more with what European taxpayers' money is spent on... IMHO.