イメージフォーラム・フェスティバル 2018

The Portuguese Woman

Ríta AZEVEDO GOMES

digital / 136min. / 2018 / Portugal

Under the linden-tree by the forest / There I lay with him / When you go there, you’ll see / Broken flowers, trampled grass. With these words by Walther von der Vogelweide, sung by wanderess Ingrid Caven with a tone half come-hither half once- there-was, A Portuguesa begins. Language is eternally key to the films of Ríta Azevedo Gomes, as Viennale regulars certainly know: Cinema, for her, has a lot to do with finding images and sounds able to evoke ideas, thoughts, emotions as close as possible to the words from which they sprang; in this case: a novella by Robert Musil, brought into screenplay-shape by the grand lady of modern Portuguese letters: Agustina Bessa-Luís. Making for a film that is sensual like little else in contemporary moving image culture: A carefully crafted creation of seductive colors, forceful lines, clearly conceived spaces whose decisiveness make the least of gestures by the actors feel like an explosion of expres- siveness ‒ pure splendor, a high mass for the eyes and ears. In the hands of Azevedo Gomes, Musil’s ironic narrative suggesting the awkward relationship between the eponymous lady (pensive, sensual and circumspect) and knight-nobleman von Ketten (all warrior and worn out for it) becomes a tale of redemption, regret and finally forgiveness. Thus: A tale for our times in ancient garb. (Olaf MÖLLER)