January 26, 2016 -- This Portuguese movie about an old man in a hospital, haunted by ghosts from his past is probably best understood by those who understand Portuguese and Creole and who know about Cape Verdeans in Lisbon, the Carnation Revolution, and who have seen an earlier film directed by Pedro Costa, “Colossal Youth” (2006) featuring some of the same characters. Unfortunately, I don't have this background, and without it, this film is difficult to decipher.

But, I'll give it my best shot. Like “Colossal Youth,” the main character is Ventura, playing himself, a onetime resident of Lisbon's poor Fontainhas neighborhood, populated by black immigrants from Cape Verde (a former Portuguese colony, located on islands west of Africa, and once an important part of the slave trade).

In this film, Ventura seems to be mentally unstable, engaging in conversations with dead people who appear to him in this hospital. He also has an extended conversation with a “living statue” (played by Antonio Santos) who is a soldier with a gun, made up to look like a statue that sometimes moves. The statue (evidently a member of the Movimento das Forças Armadas, or MFA, involved in the Carnation Revolution) seems to be a kind of alter ego to Ventura, who is trying to persuade him to give up on life. Death beckons to Ventura in this story.

Ventura also has conversations with Vitalina Varela, wife of Joaquim de Brito Varela, a former friend to Ventura. Joaquim and Ventura got into a knife fight years before. Ventura was wounded, but there is a disagreement between the two of them about what happened to Joaquim. Vitalina keeps insisting that Joaquim is dead, but Ventura is just as sure that Joaquim is alive, and is being treated in the same hospital.

There is a flashback to the immediate aftermath of the knife fight in question, and Joaquim does not appear to be fatally wounded. He also appears near the end of the film. He tells Ventura that he can't feel his arm, or use it because of the cut Ventura gave him in the knife fight. He tells Ventura “You have retired me.” Since both living and dead persons mingle together in this film, I guess Joaquim could exist only in the mind of Ventura. He looks to be alive, but Vitalina is convinced he is dead.

There is some talk of racism in the film, Vitalina says (she always speaks in a whisper), “You know the deal. The life of Cape Verdean folk is always hard.” Ventura replies, “True. Whites cracked their whips on our backs.” There is another scene, apparently at a place where Ventura used to work, that has to do with him and others not being paid salary and benefits due them for past work.

The people in the film are at the margins of society, abused and neglected. They seemed to have had little in the best of times, but now they seem to have lost everything. Vitalina tells Ventura that his house and all his belongings are gone, destroyed.

Pedro Costa uses static camera shots and the actors remain still most of the time in this film. There are a few scenes of minimal action. Ventura wanders in tunnels and passageways that seem to be underground. Vitalina tells Ventura that he is in perdition, perhaps reflected in these underground journeys. He doesn't seem to have a future, only a past, which continues to haunt him. At times, he seems to think he is existing in the past, and at times he is depicted as living in the past.

I felt like an outsider watching this film. I felt like I was invited to watch this world, but I wasn't invited into this world, this culture. I think this is a film intended for those who know this culture, the Lisbon community of Cape Verdeans, the Portuguese, those familiar with the history of Portugal and Cape Verde (which gained its indepedence from Portugal after the Carnation Revolution). As an outsider, I could not connect with this film. At best, it doesn't stand on its own, unless seen by an audience with the right background. It rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2016 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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