Synopsis
Adventurer, pilgrim, penitent but above all outstanding writer, Fernão Mendes Pinto left us an unparalleled romance, the living and human palpitation of one of the greatest historical adventures of man.
2017 ‘Peregrinação’ Directed by João Botelho
Adventurer, pilgrim, penitent but above all outstanding writer, Fernão Mendes Pinto left us an unparalleled romance, the living and human palpitation of one of the greatest historical adventures of man.
Cláudio da Silva Catarina Wallenstein Jani Zhao José Mora Ramos Filipe Vargas Maya Booth António Durães Dinarte Branco Luís Lima Barreto Jiaojiao Yao Marcello Urgeghe Rui Morisson José Martins Ricardo Aibéo Márcio Laranjeira Cassiano Carneiro Beatriz Leonardo Zia Soares Hugo Mestre Amaro Sara Costa Fernando Rodrigues João Araújo Diogo Leite Henrique Mello Martim Barbeiro
The visual elements are what stands the most out in this film. Some images are just stunning and breathtaking. Especially those around the sea. The other good thing about the film is the musical element. One that come as a surprise certainly, but it gives a surrealistic feeling and these sequences are also well crafted.
Having said that, I don't get along with the work of João Botelho. Probably because of the problems he has in the narrative aspects of his films, and with that, the problems in the screenplay are easily shown. The dialogues are far too theatrical at times and without charm. They try to be grandiose pieces of literature but the writing is rather weak. The things he does well in cinematography are overthrown by the acting, narrative and the writing.
I've seen porn movies with better director, screenplay, sound design, cinematography, costume design and acting than this steaming pile of beetle dung.
2017 isn't showing itself as a good year for cinema, now with another major letdown. How can an incredible narrative, both a decadent adventure story and a complex character-study, can turn into such a disappointingly bad film.
An hard-to-follow, incredibly complicated plot, made into dubious technical execution and out of focus acting. João Botelho claimed the lack of interest in the story, but all the interest in the way of telling the story, and I couldn't agree more with him on this definition of narrative cinema. Nevertheless, one has to play with narrative rules, and those rules are so badly played here. He also proclaimed the two ideas behind this film: to preserve the memory, and to preserve cinema. And…
Esse não é um bom ano para o cinema português na Mostra desse ano, e Peregrinação é mais um retrato disso. Mesmo que tenha passagens interessantes, como as interações musicais que aparecem ao longo da projeção, é um filme tão confuso que perde o espectador depois dos primeiros minutos.
+ em bit.ly/42Mostra
Ao contrário de muitos dos comentários aqui no Letterboxd eu acho que o filme é bom, a cinematografia é boa, a narrativa é boa e a actuação embora teatral também não é má de todo. Achei a forma de contar a narrativa muito captivante. Eu vi o filme de propósito porque estou “hyperfixated” no álbum do Fausto Bordalo Dias e achei muita piada à inserção das cantigas em momentos do filme, embora um pouco caricato. Recomendo para gente que gosta da idade média e do nascimento da idade moderna
So, the worst Portuguese filmmaker ever decides to adapt a book by Deana Barroqueiro, calls her twice, she does not pick up the phone, so he decides to proceed anyway with the filming. After the film is ready, he writes to her to inform that he tried to call twice and admits he "should have tried at least four times" before going ahead and stealing her novel. He also refers to his own profession as "vampire art" as if to suggest that such a theft is a common thing that filmmakers do.
The result, oh boy, makes one think that Deana Barroqueiro would never have allowed the release had she been aware that her novel was being plagiarized. He takes the cake and runs, then falls on top of it and serves it either way. To the usual few hundreds that still buy a ticket for his films.
Ó prestigiosos marinheiros lusitanos, podeis continuar com as cantorias para os meus ouvidos não escutarem tais diálogos teatrais pobremente encenados!? Rogo-vos marinheiros lusitanos!
This is, unfortunately, all over the place. I enjoyed the musical moments (Fausto), but all the rest was a mess with back and forth and just felt disconnected.