An anthology film drama featuring a poetic mirror structure based on existential identity. In “The Immortals,” adapted from a Helder Prista Monteiro play, two famous doctors, an 80-year-old father, and his 60-year-old son, contemplate senility and death. “Suzy,” from an Antonio Patricio story, is set in the ’30s when a young courtesan dies on the operating table. “Mother of the River” is from an Agustina Bessa-Luis fable about eternal life.
Tag: 1990s
Ema is a sweet and innocent girl who is so beautiful she turns the head of every man she passes. Her life takes a despairing turn for the worse when her father forces her into a passionless marriage to his friend, a wealthy doctor. To make matters worse, she is relocated to the scenic but unfamiliar and isolated vineyards of Abraham’s Valley, Portugal where the breathtaking river Douro flows. Trapped in a marriage to a man she does not love, she scorns her husband and threatens to kill herself rather than submit to his desires.
Following the relationship that grows up between a reclusive old lady and a fast-talking escaped convict after she finds him raiding her fridge one night. Because he bears an uncanny resemblance to her long-dead true love, she decides to shelter him. In exchange for friendship, she hides him from the police; and as their time together passes, both parties learn a lot about each other and about themselves.
This is a nostalgic look at the typical “Class Reunion” of a group after about a quarter of a century of going their separate ways after graduation. The girls that used to be pretty and the ugly ones have someway become beautiful. The guys that were the most handsome are not necessarily the best looking guys anymore. Some of the once homely guys and girls are better with age. Everything is going great until tragedy strikes when one of them is murdered.
When a lawyer loses an appeal to stop a logging company from clear-cutting Native American land, Arthur, an Indian militant drags him and the kidnapped logging mill manager into the forest. The lawyer’s empty talk about how the company’s greed should be punished is put into brutal action by Arthur, who tortures the manager in allegorical ways mimicking what loggers do to the forest.
Just a normal night at the police station for rookie Christine Paley. This is a log of about eight different types of arrests which can happen in a normal month. Lieutenant Mike Brosloe leads her through a most unusual first shift. If all shifts were like this, even a veteran could only last a short time.
A dream-like version of the Sabbath in the Middle Ages: one night at full moon, the women leave home to meet with the devil in the woods. Several orgiastic ceremonies later, they all return home at cockcrow. All except for one, the youngest, who is under an evil spell.