How do you rate a film when you don’t understand it?

I probably should have known what I was getting into with Pedro Costa’s restored 1989 debut feature. I didn’t really love the slow austerity of Vitalina Varela (2019), but I was convinced by a synopsis that said it was comprised of “stirring, stark black-and-white images in studiously compose tableaux”. There were no tableaux. Yes, the black-and-white was rich and gorgeous, but we aren’t given enough context or continuity to work out what the story is about.

On the surface, it’s about two brothers – adult Vicente (Pedro Hestnes) and 10-year-old Nino (Nuno Ferreira) – who are cast adrift when their father disappears. Or dies. Or both.

There’s a girl Clara (Inês Medeiros), who floats in an out, an evil uncle (Luís Miguel Cintra) and some thugs. Things happen or maybe they don’t.

The best bit is a scene in the middle,where The The’s joyful song ‘This is the Day’ plays. The film to that point had felt so ambiguous as to its time period that it felt anachronistic.

So when it comes to rating, I always add half a star for black-and-white. I’m going to subtract half a staff for failing the Bechdel Test without cause, and I think it gets two stars for me not really knowing what it’s about.

Director: Pedro Costa
Origin: Portugal (1989)
Language: Portuguese with English subtitles
Genre: Drama

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