FAVORITE PORTUGUESE FILMS

This is my reply to Carlos Ferrao in my blog:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-feelings-for-frost-1997-fred-kelemen.html

--I like ALICE (2005, Marco Martins) very much, though I felt a little bit confused during the first half of the film and couldn’t follow the story. It is because I felt sleepy during that time due to my lack of sleep during the film festival. But after the first half, it seemed like I could begin to understand the feelings, the frustration, and the suffering of the hero. I think the film portrays the hero’s obsession very powerfully. It seems like the film is obsessed with the hero’s obsession. The hero couldn’t stop thinking about his daughter, and the film couldn’t stop focusing on his suffering. Everything in the film is great—the acting, the atmosphere, the rhythm. I also like very much that the hero has to smile in front of his audience nearly every day, though inside he must feel like hell. I think losing a daughter is the worst thing in the world already, but losing a daughter and having to smile in front of other people every day is like doubling the worst thing.

Coincidentally, last year I saw three films which deal with people who lose their children—ALICE, BUG, and GHOSTS (2005, Christian Petzold).

--I have seen so few Portuguese films, maybe not more than 20. I saw most of them in the European Film Festival in Bangkok. Fortunately, the people who choose Portuguese films to show in the festival seem to share the same taste with me, because I nearly love all of them. On the other hand, the people who choose Spanish films for the same festival seem to choose only unworthy ones. I know Spanish cinema have a lot of great films, but those great ones are not chosen to be shown in Bangkok for reasons unknown to me.

My favorite Portuguese films include:

(in alphabetical order)

1.ADEUS, PAI (1996, Luis Filipe Rocha)

2.ALICE (2005, Marco Martins)

3.O FANTASMA (2000, Joao Pedro Rodrigues)

4.GLORIA (1999, Manuela Viegas)

5.MANO (2005, George Felner)

6.THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (2002, Fernando Matos Silva)

7.MURMURING COAST (2004, Margarida Cardoso)

8.THE POLICEWOMAN (2003, Joaquim Sapinho)

9.THE ROOT OF THE HEART (2000, Paulo Rocha)

10.A TALKING PICTURE (2003, Manoel de Oliveira)