A Divina comédia

THIS DISTINCTIVE ''REFLECTION ON HISTORY'' refers only indirectly to Dante's Divine Comedy, according to the director himself. Generously speaking, they touch on the same themes: good and evil, sin and holiness, but in the movie Hell, Purgatory and Paradise exist here on Earth. The action takes place in the present in a building inhabited by alienated beings crossing one another's paths, carrying their obsessions, clear as hallucinations. Some believe themselves to be Biblical figures, others, characters from novels by Dostoevsky. Their deeds make up an allegory of sorts, but no easily translated action is offered. What there is, is a story, oscillating between guilt and punishment, honesty and hypocricy, power and submission, and it asserts other values than the ones belonging to the Western Civilization. All comes together in the central question about the probability of the Resurrection.

Comment:
MENTION MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA and even the most hardened film critic will get the shivers. His films have been shown frequently at the festival in Venice. Film giant Gian Luigi Rondi at the Biennial apparently has a soft spot for the old Portuguese director. Everyone remembers with dread de Oliveira's six hour long epic Le soulier de satin about the French poet Paul Claudel. It was endless! And nothing happened either and the cinema was consecutively emptier with the pace of the pauses.
Since then many have boycotted de Oliveira. ''He might be one of Europe's leading directors, but I've had enough.'' But, it's definitely worth giving his latest film Thc Divinc Comedy a try. Without doubt it's his most accessible work. That, of course, doesn't mean you'll laugh. It is all far too sombre for that. We're in an insane asylum. With Dante and his view of the world in mind, the director introduces a group of lost individuals with religious overtones. It's slow and as usual, nothing happens, but suddenly de Oliveira's world opens up. This remarkable group of lunatics might have something to say: Adam and Eve, a Lazarus returning from his coffin, Nietzsche, the murderer Raskolnikov and the brother's Karamazov. All turn into a metaphor, pointing at the unstable Europe of today.
Don't walk out on this film, give it a try! After all, an 83-year-old director, blindly believing in what he does and never compromizing himself in order to please his audience is quite amazing. Honestly, sometimes I think he doesn't give a damn whether or not anybody sees what he makes.
Despite that this European outsider continues to make films and he shows a rare ability for renewing himself even though his debut lies as far back as 1932. What's problematic is when we no longer manage to watch a single film of this kind - that will be the last evidence that we've been for ever destroyed by TV and Hollywood. Don't let Rambo, Indiana Jones and Dallas get the last word! Go see de Oliveira!
PETER LOEWE

Medverkande
Maria de Medeiros, Miguel Guilherme, Mario Viegas: Producent
Paulo Branco: Manus
Manuel de Oliveira: Foto
Ivan Kozelca: Talat språk
Portuguese