Portugal Cinematography Since the 1980’s

By | December 25, 2021

João Mário Grilo revealed himself with Maria (1979) and A estrangeira (1983). The Reis-Cordeiro couple continued with Ana (1985) their discourse on matter, symbols and values ​​of the earth. Monteiro con Silvestre (1981) exalted the transgressive aspect of Lusitanian mythology and legends. Botelho rose to prominence thanks to Conversa acabada (1982; Conversation concluded between Pessoa and Sá-Carneiro). Grilo made O process do rei (1990; Process of the king), a rigorous film presented in the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival, O fim do mundo (1993), story of a rural crime, Os olhos da Ásia (1996), historical film on Japan, and Longe da vista (1998). Lopes directed Matar saudades (1988), a passionate tragedy about emigration and the return to one’s homeland, and O fio do horizonte (1993), metaphysical reading of the novel Il filo dell’izzonte by A. Tabucchi. Before his death (1991), Reis signed with Cordeiro the latest dazzling feature film, Rosa de areia (1989), the most abstract, complex and elaborate work of this singular pair of filmmakers. the theatrical one, Silva Melo created August (1988), inspired by the story La spiaggia by C. Pavese, and Coitado do Jorge (1993), from the novel by Portugal Fox, in which the reflection on political defeats is replaced by that, equally nostalgic, about personal relationships. Campos, after making art-themed documentaries for Gulbenkian, shot the medium-length film A tremonha de cristal (1993), a small work nourished by his childhood memories, and Terra fria (1995), from the novel by JM Ferreira de Castro, his last work before his death (1999). Seixas Santos directed Paraíso perdido (1995), in which the consequences of the revolution and the decolonization process continue, years later, to condition the lives of the protagonists, and Mal (1999), a portrait of a sick society, outlined with a narrative construction essentially based on editing. Between 1985 and 1990 many new authors appeared, expanding one of the most singular and richest horizons in the history of cinema. The most important name is that of Pedro Costa, who made his debut with O blood (1991), an intense and intimate film which was followed by Casa de lava (1994), where everything is strong and extreme, not only the feelings but also the places, faces, behaviors and, last but not least, the cinema itself; a discourse that the director developed in Ossos (1997) and No quarto da Vanda (2000). Vitor Gonçalves made his debut with a lyrical and secret film, of great rigor and purism, Uma rapariga no verão (1986). Manuel Mozos, especially with the medium-length film Um passo, outro passo e depois… (1990), with Xavier (started in 1992 but finished only in 2003), and with Quando troveja (1999), he experimented with a way of shooting in which the camera reflects the vibrations of places and bodies, trying to re-establish an immediate relationship with what surrounds us. Together with that of Costa, the work of Teresa Villaverde Cabral is the one best known by the international public, to whom she imposed herself with A idade maior (1991), but above all with Três irmãos (1994) and Os mutantes (1998), perhaps the most radical work of this director.

In 1987 Joaquim Pinto, one of the most important sound technicians, also took over as director, with Uma pedra no bolso (1988), of great sensitivity and authenticity. With O bobo (shot in 1979 and only released in 1987), José Álvaro Morais, a director who has been active since the 1970s, recounted the political and psychological confusion of former revolutionary militants through an elaborate structure, based on the continuous passage between past and present, and in 1987 he won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival; after the medium-length film Zéfiro (1993) he made his second feature film, Peixe lua (2000) Solveig Nordlund (of Swedish origin) directed Dina and Django (1983), a rigorous and strong story of social alienation, Até amanhã, Mário (1994), in which he deals with the theme of pedophilia and the infantile condition, and Comédia infantil (1998). Margarida Gil made her debut with Relação fiel e verdadeira (1989), from the autobiography of a 17th century nun, a story of violent passions and intense and funereal sensuality; subsequently he made Rosa negra (1992) and O anjo da Guarda (1999). Numerous other directors have directed first works, which often have never been distributed in theaters: Manuela Serra with O Movimento das coisas (shot in 1978 and finished in 1985), documentary on the daily life of a village; Daniel Del Negro with Do outro lado do espelho – “Atlântida” (1985), a journey through the labyrinths of the imagination; Rita Azevedo Gomes with O som da terra a tremer (1990), a very unique film, suspended in a dimension of infinite and intense poetry, while with Frágil como o mundo (2001) she created a work of intense and evocative lyricism. Also in the 1980s, Cristina Hauser, the protagonist of Amor de perdição, made her debut with three short films based on the stories of A. Schnitzler: A mulher do filósofo (1982), Junqueira (1983) and Confidências (1987). Ana Luisa Guimarães after the short film O visitante (1985) signed Nuvem (1992), a delicate story of adolescents struggling with the struggle for survival. More known to the public, the work of João Canijo, whose Três menos eu (1988), also signed by Fernando Vendrell, was welcomed as a sign of that renewal which, both in terms of production and stylistic terms, characterized the Portuguese cinema of the mid-1980s; he later made Filha da mãe (1991) and Sapatos pretos (1998). that after a series of medium-length films and television works he shot the noir Reporter X (1987) and the more interesting A lua deitada (1998); Joaquim Sapinho, who revealed himself with Corte de cabelo (1996), a look at the Lisbon of the nineties; Manuel Viegas, editor, who made his debut with Glória (1999); João Pedro Rodrigues, who imposed himself with O fantasma (2000; Il fantasma); the actresses Maria de Medeiros, who directed A morte do príncipe (1991), by F. Pessoa, and Capitães de abril (2000; Capitani d’aprile), on the ‘carnation revolution’, and Ines de Medeiros, who filmed the documentary O fato complet ou à procura de Alberto (2001); Edgar Pêra, who elaborates an experimental cinema and whose most important works (never distributed) are Manual de evasão – Lx 94 (1994), A ko0nspiração dos mil tympanos (1996), As dezaventuras do homem-câmara (1998) and A janela (Maryalva mix) (2002). For Portugal 2016, please check softwareleverage.org.

The cinema of Joaquim Leitão, author of two commercial successes, Adão and Eva (1995) and Tentação (1997), has a different orientation. In 2003 the master of Portuguese cinema Oliveira made Un filme falado (A spoken film), a reflection on the great civilizations of the Mediterranean world and on the tragedies of the present. ‘IPC, which in 1993 became Instituto Português da Arte do Cinema e do Audiovisual (IPACA) and in 1997 Instituto do Cinema, do Audiovisual e do Multimédia (ICAM): not simple changes of abbreviations but signs of a different attitude of the State towards the cinema. author of two commercial successes, Adão and Eva (1995) and Tentação (1997). In 2003 the master of Portuguese cinema Oliveira made Un filme falado (A spoken film), a reflection on the great civilizations of the Mediterranean world and on the tragedies of the present. ‘IPC, which in 1993 became Instituto Português da Arte do Cinema e do Audiovisual (IPACA) and in 1997 Instituto do Cinema, do Audiovisual e do Multimédia (ICAM): not simple changes of abbreviations but signs of a different attitude of the State towards the cinema. author of two commercial successes, Adão and Eva (1995) and Tentação (1997). In 2003 the master of Portuguese cinema Oliveira made Un filme falado (A spoken film), a reflection on the great civilizations of the Mediterranean world and on the tragedies of the present. ‘IPC, which in 1993 became Instituto Português da Arte do Cinema e do Audiovisual (IPACA) and in 1997 Instituto do Cinema, do Audiovisual e do Multimédia (ICAM): not simple changes of abbreviations but signs of a different attitude of the State towards the cinema.

Portugal Cinematography