Reviews

The second time director Paulo Fajardo tackles the french invasions, right after his doc "A Primeira Linha de Wellington". This time with a fictional narrative at his core and a more cinematic ambition. However, it really doesn't go far-off from his previous effort, both in style and content.

The strongest points are the dialog, the actors and costumes. The soundtrack, while not memorable, does a very competent job in setting the mood. Technically is all over the place. There are sequences that shine, while others suffer from poor sound, lighting or other issues like the soap opera feel or the obvious smokey filter that sometimes feels out of place.

It's clear Terra Queimada is a joint effort from many parts that aren't experienced in cinema and, at the same time, dealing with budgetary constraints. But they still managed to give birth to a coherent and poignant movie who deals with a heavy subject with respect.

As an archival document, it's a great homage piece to the slow moving days of Corvo island inhabitants.

As a documentary, is a tad long (had to watch in two sessions), rough on the edges and a bit random sometimes. The narrations are interesting but unfortunately they are scarce.

I leave my admiration on how much the makers gave themselves to this journey.

A "sequel" documentary from the guys who made Lost in La Mancha almost 20 years ago. And while the first is a more straight documentation on what was happening during production of a movie version that never was, this one is a more reflective, melancholic and overall better presented film.

To be honest, the second attempt of making Don Quixote was running smoother but director Terry Gilliam himself is older, less flexible and impatient. So they focus a lot on the anguish of a man who struggles to keep things running.

Movie making isn't an exact science and I love doomed backstage stories. This time we know things come to fruition but we still feel like walking a line over failure while watching it.

PS: interestingly, producer Paulo Branco is missing in action.

A tight historical recount of the french invasions on the portuguese center region, mainly using footage from reenactment groups.

The narration is the strongest aspect, sustaining a documentary that suffers from many budgetary constraints like non professional actors or uneven audio & visual quality and special effects.

This is however a welcoming document to the local history that will put a bright light on a 200 year old dramatic military event.

A contemplative and, ultimately, underwhelming story about a woman struggle on an imminent divorce.

The coastal village of Tavira is a nice setting but that's pretty much it. Performances range from decent to atrocious (specially when there's kids on screen) and the movie is plagued with the usual portuguese cinema limitations of that time, namely the horrible sound design and mediocre lighting. The cherry on top being that strange tradition of having lead foreign actors dubbed in post.

I want to give my appreciation for Alexandre Pinto, who shines as a troubled secondary character and probably the only interesting subplot thing going on.

With one foot on fiction and other in reality, this is a documentary style road movie that follows a group of women on religious pilgrimage to Fátima.

It is certainly a very raw and interesting experience, resulting from a bold choice of putting all the actresses through the real ordeal. Dialogues and situations are super convincing and the cast (lead by the impeccable Rita Blanco) does a great job.

As the movie progresses, things get a little tense and more interesting. Sometimes I felt we were only catching bits and pieces, since the struggles were all too real and you can't film everything. Maybe that was the whole point, but I think director Canijo should have given a little more structure and narrative.

Of all Fátima's related films out there (and there are way more than it should) this is definitely the best, and not even about faith.

In the 90s, parents were paranoid and feared for their kids and drug addiction. Portuguese movies surely didn't miss the boat and Tentação was the most popular, becoming a box office hit. And in spite of its dark subject, teachers in my school still decided to show it in classes.

It was nice to revisit the film all these years later. Joaquim Leitão crafted what is probably the best movie of his career and one of the strongest performances by Joaquim de Almeida. A dark story about a priest who goes deep down on a hole to bring back a drug addict back to the light, all in the name of love.

It has the usual technical limitations and I have some issues with Cristina Câmara performance (her first role). But the story carries some strong moments.