Paulo Branco Movies

Fernando Lopes, a leading figure of the Portuguese cinema's New Wave, wrote and directed this semi-improvised look at two strangers who find they share a common bond while traveling together. Dinis (Rogerio Samora) is a man in his 40's who is charmingly arrogant on the outside, but hides a deep-seated insecurity and carries the burden of some unpleasant secrets. While driving cross-country, Dinis meets Maria (Carla Chambel) at a rest stop; she's young, attractive and self-assured, and when she tells him she needs a ride, he offers to let her tag along. Both Dinis and Maria seem wary about sharing the details of their lives with one another, but in time they find common ground by talking about their families; both have troubled relationships with their parents but are searching for a way to mend their fences. Maria longs to visit her grandmother Pilar (Marcia Breia), and eventually Dinis grudging agrees to take her to her home. Pilar is a wise and compassionate woman whose warmth and generosity has an unexpected healing effect for both Maria and Dinis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Veteran Portuguese director Manoel Oliveira brings the events and characters of a famous 17th-century French novel, La princesse de Cleves by Madame de Lafayette, to the modern day in this film about passion and matrimonial virtues. Mademoiselle de Chartres (Chiara Mastroianni) has her first experience of heartbreak when a youth who believes in free love abandons her. One night, her mother's friend Mrs. Silva introduces her to Jacques de Cleves, a doctor of good reputation. The doctor fell in love with the young girl the day he saw her in a jewelry store in the Place Vendome, choosing a necklace in the company of her mother. Mademoiselle de Chartres agrees to marry the doctor to cure her broken heart but subsequently falls in love with a young and fashionable singer, Pedro Abrunhosa. Realizing the dangers of following one's passions, her mother warns her before she dies, reminding her of her reputation and her duties to her husband. But she is too much in love to care. Besides, she is a rebellious woman at heart. Using a story written almost three centuries ago, Oliveira makes light of the social order which is affecting humanity even today. Remarkably, he does this with a good dose of humor. Chiara Mastroianni combines beauty with dignity as the woman who has no choice but to follow her passions no matter where they lead her. In competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

A spy discovers doing a favor for a friend leads her into unexpectedly dangerous circumstances in this dark comedy. It's been close a decade since French intelligence agent Irene (Juliette Binoche) has heard from her friend Elliot (Nick Nolte), an American CIA operative who left Europe and took up a new identity under mysterious circumstances. But one day out of the blue Irene gets a call from Elliot as he asks her to track down his daughter Orlando (Sara Forestier), currently living in the French countryside, and bring her to Paris so they can re-connect. Irene agrees, but she soon discovers Orlando has nothing good to say about her missing dad and only grudgingly agrees to pay him a visit. When they arrive in Paris, Irene and Orlando find the family reunion is bigger than they thought -- David (Tom Riley), Elliot's stepson, is also on hand, though David and Orlando mix like oil and water. As Elliot tries to juggle meetings with his two children and Irene tries to help by playing interference, Elliot is also visited by a deranged American intelligence representative, William Pound (John Turturro), who along with Elliot knows something about a possible attack on the United States, as well as a pair of shadowy moneymen (Mathieu Demy and Said Amadis) who want to know more about the plot and are willing to pay for the privilege. Quelques Jours En Septembre (aka A Few Days In September) was the first directorial credit for veteran screenwriter Santiago Amigorena. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this artful film by 85-year old director Manoel de Oliveira, the heroine, instead of being powerless in the face of a world ruled by men, finds herself to be far too powerful. Beginning when she was a child, Ema (Leonor Silveira as an adult) had the kind of looks and manner that could stop cars when she came up to a street -- or cause accidents. As time goes by, she explores her power over men and, as a mature woman, chooses to marry a man who has virtually no machismo so that she can continue having affairs and exploring this mysterious ability of hers. Eventually she seeks to transcend her unusual limitation and accomplishes her death with astonishing serenity. This haunting story is based on a novel by Agustina Bessa-Luis. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Ana combines straight-on documentary technique with unexpected flights of dreamlike surrealism. The title character, played by Ana Maria Martins Guerra, is a young Portuguese girl who lives with her grandmother. Through their relationship, we are witness to the Cycle of Life: Grandmother takes care of granddaughter until granddaughter is obliged to do same for grandmother. The scenes between the two protagonists are counterpointed with impressionistic camera compositions based upon famous religious paintings. Ana was impressive enough to earn an American art-house release, a rarity for independently produced Portuguese films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The eccentric Portuguese director Joao Cesar Monteiro is also the screenwriter and the main character of this film, which continues his cynical observations about God and religion. Two shadow-like figures meet in an old, icy park when all seems lost. They are Deus and a Messenger from God. The Messenger gives the Crook (which is the temporary state of poor Joao de Deus) a suitcase full of money. Having accomplished his mission, he disappears. While Joao is busy counting his fortune, a heavy object plunges into the nearby lake, disturbing its tranquility. Joao goes to see what is happening and sees a young girl drowning. He plunges into the water to save her and carries the unconscious girl off to a convent. When he returns to the park, the suitcase full of money is still there waiting for him. Providence or sheer luck? With Monteiro, the answer is evident. 52nd Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain regard, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Portuguese director Hugo Vieira da Silva's feature Body Rice joins Gus Van Sant's Gerry, Jose Maria de Orbe's The Straight Line, and other recent motion pictures that pontificate at length on the endless vapidity inherent in banal lives. Vieira da Silva chooses as his subject a cadre of German teenagers shuttled off to a social reintegration program in Portugal, where they wander endlessly through the countryside searching, in vain, for personal significance. Sylta Fee Wegmann, Julika Jenkins, and Alice Dwyer co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

After fatally shooting a stalker, Parisian bar-maid Lea must live the life of the title reptile. At the time of the killing she was living with Francis, a much older American ex-con. After committing the murder, the fleeing and frightened Lea is saved by Paris paper boys Jean and Luc. Later she tells her sad story to hard-drinking Moskowitz, a middle-aged cop who secretly desires her. His unrequited love leads to tragedy. Meanwhile, Lea continues living with Francis, but also shacks up with Luc while trying to avoid the jealous cop. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Master filmmaker Raúl Ruiz adds a black comedy to his far-reaching body of work with That Day, a playful meditation on money, death, and false spirituality. Livia (Elsa Zylberstein) and Pointpoirot (Bernard Girardeau) are, respectively, a spoiled society woman who suffers from delusional visions of heavenly apparitions and a crazed serial killer on the loose after a successful prison break. It isn't long before fate brings the two together, and after thwarting Pointpoirot's initial attempts to murder her, Livia soon warms to the charming sociopath. The duo makes short work of Livia's greedy family -- who were planning on killing her and collecting her fortune, anyway -- and as the death count rises, a romance develops between the two. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

A worldly construction supervisor travels to Tangier to ensure that a complicated job is completed by the projected date, only to find the torch he carries for a long-lost love rekindled with melancholy passion in director Andre Techine's pensive romantic drama. It's been thirty-years since Antoine (Gerard Depardieu) and Ceclile (Catherine Denuve) called it quits, but time has only seemed to amplify Antoine's longings for the woman that stole his heart so many years ago. Though Antoine has never married, Cecile is now the host of a successful radio show whose extended marriage to Moroccan doctor Nathan (Gilbert Melki) has yielded a now-grown son named Sami (Malik Zidi). When Antoine arrives in Northern Morocco to watch over his latest project, his attention soon diverts to Cecile - who has always been close in Antoine's mind despite the physical and emotional distance between them. Cecil isn't as willing to let go of her blissfully predictable routine, however, and as Antoine dejectedly ponders a means of making her change her mind, the appearance of Cecil's closeted son - who has recently arrived home with his troubled Moroccan girlfriend (Lubna Azabal) in tow - begins to cause complications of its own. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi