manumfernandes Reviews

Mosquito (I) (2020)

The delusion of War

[7/10 · 16 November 2020]

It's an impressive World War I drama focusing on a portuguese soldier who got lost in the African forest, and it's a visual treat for sure. Zacarias is played really well by João Nunes Monteiro and his "adventure" of misfortunes takes us to the heart of this continent. We see the impact of colonialism (especially at the beginning where the soldiers are transported by african men, something I didn't know that actually happened and would never imagine), the impact of war and how this almost death sentence of being alone on this dangerours territory has great consequences on a young man disillusioned with the riches of being a war hero.

It has a clear influence from "Apocalypse Now", cinematography-wise, with the night being captured perfectly by the camera and with the creation of an almost drug-induced scenery with the bizarre colours all around. It does not create a visceral and deep experience that a movie like this promises, but still, it does really well in what it achieves.

A Viagem do Sr. Ulisses (2012 TV Movie)

Adventures are not only for the young

[7/10 · 26 September 2020]

Surprisingly a great film with an important story to tell. The senior population are prone to be abandoned by their children. This man, Fernando Ulisses, upon seeing that his family went on vacation and left him on the hospital, decides that he has to walk out by himself, otherwise he will be there forever victim to the scrutiny of the other patients.

So he begins an adventure with this punk-rock girl, Inês, that he meets along the way. It could be a generic film, but it's very interesting and captivating with excellent acting. Rui Mendes and Mafalda Tavares are fantastic in the whole film and deliver heartfelt and sincere performances that work really well together.

Space Dogs (2019)

The beauty of Canines. Either on space, or on the streets

[7/10 · 19 September 2020]

A very harsh documentary with small portions of dialogue, just enough for us to create the narrative the images elicit on us. Most of the time, we simply see dogs, they won't tell us anything, they will just go around with their lives completely ignorant to the camera and what it means.

Sometimes, we followed these dogs, other times we saw historical archive footage of the efforts to launch dogs into space. Other times, the images were violent, not for those who are faint of hear but they were real images that depicted what these dogs were submited to.

Once regarded as giants in space, now homeless on the streets.

O Primeiro Verão (2014)

Surprising Feature

[7/10 · 20 August 2020]

A really big surprise for me, it seemed to be just a simple film, and it is indeed a simple film, but without the extravangace, it brought a lot of heart.

It's about the universal concept of young love and that's all we need to know, all the awkwardness and confusion is very relatable and done really well by these two actors. The silences are very heartfelt and every look is very definition of love. Perhaps it could have used more things like close-ups or it could have tried to think more outside the box, cinematography-wise. And the music wasn't always on point but it made for a really pleasant and surprising feature! I will have to see more from Adriano Mendes.

Carrie (1976)

Taking it Slow Pays Off

[9/10 · 20 August 2020]

Carrie is such an amazing film. The way Brian de Palma took the time to set up everything for that magnificent prom sequence is just astonishing. The tonal shift is brilliant, he managed to make a teenage drama with horror, slapstick comedy in small bits and a lot of heart in the central character, not to mention the fantastic ways he explored bullying and puberty together with demonic powers.

He developed everything so well that even the ending, confusing as it is for those viewing it for the first time (not the ending itself but the why those things happened), grips our emotions and we are fully emphatic with the characters. I even dare to say that our empathy goes to every single character since there is enought insight to understand why they are the way they are. It's all in small things with a lot of foreshadowing, but it's all there. It's a classic.

The Color of Pomegranates (1969)

Unique, Beautiful, and Thought-Provoking

[10/10 · 19 August 2020]

One of the weirdest and most surrealist films I've ever seen. Having seen other of Parajanov's works, this is the one that stands the most. All of his films are highly stylized and full of abstract imagery that I don't fully understand or that I don't understand at all but this, despite of following the same line of thought in its artistic creation is very very different.

It's full of colour and of unforgettable images that leave us baffled for how unattainable they are. Maybe it's the armenian cultural identity that I can't understand, but can't help to fall in love with what I've just seen. There is a reason for Tarkovsky to praise Parajanov so much, and I'm confident that you don't have to understand what was shown to grasp the beauty of it. It's simply the enjoyment of cinema.

The Look of Silence (2014)

Documentary Filmmaking at Its Best

[9/10 · 15 August 2020]

Not as spectacular as "The Act of Killing" but incredibly chilling, "The Look of Silence" offers the experience of something most of us won't live (hopefully). It's scary to look at these people and imagine what they must have lived and what they are feeling at time of those interviews.

Joshua Oppenheimer made a courageous film that forces us to confront the perils of the world and of our own society. Now this is what documentary films must strive for.

A Moment of Innocence (1996)

Our Perception Can Be Deceiving

[8/10 · 15 August 2020]

From what I've seen of Iranian Cinema, it seems to be that it is simultaneously simple and extremely complex. Simple in the way they capture real life moments, or simply cinematography-wise. Things look exactly how they would look in real life, the directors struggle is not to give reality another layer but to show it exactly like it is. Complex because it operates on so many levels. In "A Moment of Innocence", we talk about the meta-comment on cinema and its attempt to recreate reality, how we perceive our memories and how we would prefer real life to be like. The two main characters and their "young" counterparts are very elaborate, we get to know how their beliefs differ, how closely they resemble each other and what their goals become once they start to understand the way others think.

Beautiful imagery that transports us to the streets of Iran and its snowy roads, fantastic music and a brilliant ending that leaves us glued to the screen.

The Fall (V) (2019)

Feels like living on a nightmare

[7/10 · 13 May 2020]

A surprsingly engaging narrative with really spooky overtones. Jonathan Glazer managed to create in such a small amount of time the feeling of being trapped in a nightmare that we cannot escape no matter how much we try.

The masked people are the stuff that keeps us on the edge while sleeping and it really seems that we are in that dark, gloomy environment. The simple sound of the wind is terrifying.

The only problem with this is that it's criminally short. Unfortunately, when we get through all the surrealistic images and start to become connected with the seemingly looking protagonist, it's suddenly over.

Nevertheless, can't wait for Jonathan Glazer's next work!

The Princess Bride (1987)

A magical experience

[8/10 · 11 May 2020]

It's goofy, preposterous and downright ridiculous and that's why it is amazing. It's a curious effect the way that we unreluctantly accept all the impossible things when dealing with the fantastic and in this film we simply transport ourselves to this world. It's comedic takes are hilarious and even outside the book's story, when we go to the boy and the grandfather, we just feel the love inherent to the family bond. Rob Reiner really hit a high with this one.

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Great movie about wandering when lost

[8/10 · 6 May 2020]

It's classical Spielberg and that's a great Spielberg. Following a British boy in World War II China who got lost from his family, we embark on an adventure through sadness. Not necessarily the sadness of War, because we don't get to experience its absolute horror but we do get to see the sadness of losing our family, of wandering aimlessly through a dog-eat-dog world and of adulthood catching up with us at a fierce rate. At the same time, it's about retaining that sense of wonder we get while looking at the world through our child-eyes. I believe Steven Spielberg managed to capture this dichotomy quite well, resulting in an uplifting and wonderful film.

Bernie (2011)

How to mix real life with fiction

[7/10 · 5 May 2020]

Going into this, I only knew that it was a Richard Linklater film starring Jack Black. And it was a really amusing experience that gets us into thinking about people's natures and how that can modulate the way we analyze the morality of one's actions and see the circumstances of those same actions. We may know how something is wrong but this movie acknowledges the fact that our understanding may be surrounded by a cloud because of our preexisting perspective on the subject. Great performance by Jack Black and Mathew McCounaghey and great directing and writing by Richard Linklater. It was a nice move to add interviews with the real life Carthage townspeople. Definitely one to check out!

Fedora (1978)

A clever screenplay indeed

[6/10 · 5 May 2020]

Thanks to mubi, I was able to see Billy Wilder's penultimate film. I was really enjoying the first half of it. William Holden was great as ever and the whole mystic surrouding Fedora and what was really happening at the mansion gripped my attention. However, I think that due to the casting of some actors, the things that got me so excited in the first half completely vanished in the second. Nevertheless, it's a really intelligent screenplay, courtesy of the mind of one of the greats, on the cult of a person, cinema's glamour and how it really works out, and the expectations we create for our loved ones and how that can corrupt them.