Appraisal of the movie,
“Christopher Columbus the Enigma”
“Cristóvão Colombo, O Enigma”
By Rui Resende, Cinematographic Reviewer
of the City of Porto, Portugal
Author: ruiresende84 (ruiresende84@gmail.com) from Porto, Portugal
In my book of references, Manoel
de Oliveira has an unique approach to cinema. And that is because of two
aspects, which show vivid here as few times before in his career.
Most viewers (specially the Portuguese) will stand on a like/dislike position
based on the immediately visible "flaws":- the dialog, which is old fashioned,
inadequate in practically any moment, out of context, definitely not cinematic
in the vision we have today (and have had for many years) of what a film dialog
should be (sound?) like. This dialog constantly explains (too) many things, in
devices to provide the spectator with information on dark areas of the plot
which many times are so denounced that become childish. -than the acting, which
is many times just awful, and other times more melancholic and over-dramatic
than the speeches of say "gone with the wind". If you, dear reader, think you
are smart because you detected all this, you're not. it's all true, and i don't
care about any of that.
And I don't care, because of two things:
First Reason
The first one has to do with "placement". Oliveira is a true master in the way
he "places" things in his films. He places vision, his camera is most of the
time still (not that much in this film, actually). That has to do with his
conception of cinema as filmed theatre, but i really see in this the ability to
summarize, and tell a mood/dialog/sentiment just by looking at it. Antonioni
tried similar stuff later in his life, but Oliveira is a master in this. A
curious note is that here, his sense of visual placement is strangely (to
Oliveira's patterns) close to what Antonioni might have done. The camera moves a
lot here, and i call attention to the scenes in Alentejo, the road shots. One of
them, in which the eye of the camera is not on the road, we watch for some
moments the camera following the car. This way of shooting a landscape placing
an action in it, which becomes fundamental though shot at distance, is something
Antonioni did so well. Check also the placement of characters. They always start
a scene walking, coming from somewhere and stop in determined positions to serve
the placement chosen for the camera. So it's not about how the camera found the
characters, but how the characters serve the camera. In the very beginning we
have an interesting shots alternating up down angles with low up angles, in
Lisbon's Terreiro do Paço.
Second Reason
The second aspect i truly enjoy has to do with Oliveira's very personal way of
working with layers of reality, fiction, and fictionalized reality. The peak of
this exploration of layers was in "Viagem ao princípio do Mundo", (Voyage to the
end of the world) which I place on a special list of films i truly believe
can change something about you after (and while) you watch it. There we had a
layer of fictionalized reality (that of the actor), an historical account
(Portuguese past political context) and the layer of Oliveira's memory. Here he
replaces the fiction for the real story of a real couple, and layers his own
personal layer on that couple. He gets more economic here, but "viagem..."
(voyage) was far deeper, visually and in terms of narrative. Let's check it
here: we have Manuel Luciano (who by happy coincidence has the same first name
as our director) and we have his wife. They will serve as a motive for a kind of
road/travel film. They search the clues leading to a supposed retelling of the
origins of Christopher Columbus. Though creating around Columbus a strong
theory, that may also be fiction over reality. Than we have the third layer.
Oliveira plays Luciano as an old man (and his grandson plays him as a young man)
and has his wife playing Luciano's wife. I personally feel that Oliveira at a
certain point was shooting mainly this third layer. So we have a number of
scenes, with Oliveira and his wife in close shots. They talk. I don't think
they're acting. I think they're being themselves. Like in Sunset Boulevard, we
are constantly inside and outside reality/ies. One of these shots is worth
mention: they both seat on an interior. They talk about their past lives , i
think about their own lives, not the lives they're performing, she proclaims her
love for him, he answers he loves her, and he kisses her on the face. They get
shy like two adolescents. He is 99. She is 10 years younger. This has to be one
of the most poignant love scenes in the story of cinema, and the climax of this
good film. The scene alone makes the experience worthwhile.
So, superficially (to my view) the film is about the retelling of
an historical worldwide known biography, following with that purpose the lives
of a couple who studied the subject. In a deeper meaning, this is about
"connections". It's about linking subjects, themes, places, and specially
memories. That's why the story talks about linking loose points, unexplained
historical issues. The separated shots here are also interlinked. That's why we
have a shot looking at the sea in Dighton corresponding to a shot looking at the
Atlantic in Porto Santo; or shots looking through windows in several places
throughout the journey. In one particular shot, a bridge is being crossed in
Alentejo, an iron bridge, we have a shot at all close to what Oliveira did with
bridge D. Luiz in "douro faina fluvial", (Life on the Douro River) this is
his own cinematic memory. Vision... Memory, Love, Luciano loves his wife and his
research, Oliveira loves his wife, and cinema...
My opinion: 4/5 should this be put together in a more united way, and the
acting/dialogs not be so badly thrown in some moments, and this could be
something to change your imagination. Oh, and the music is great.
Descriptions of the cast see
below:
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Overview
Director:
Writers:
Manuel da Silva
(book)
Sílvia da Silva
(book)
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Release Date:
13 December 2007 (Portugal) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Life is the journey, life is the enigma.
Plot Outline:
A true story of a doctor and his wife who went on a journey in order to prove that discoverer Christopher Columbus was in fact Portuguese.
Plot Synopsis:
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User Comments:
Linking Memories more
Cast
(Credited cast)
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Young Sílvia Jorge da Silva |
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Sílvia Jorge da Silva |
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Narrator / Director of Museum |
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rest of cast listed alphabetically: |
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Angel |
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Old Man |
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Immigrant |
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Mother |
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A Immigrant with blanket |
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Hermínio da Silva |
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Additional Details
Also Known As:
Christopher Columbus, The Enigma
(Canada: English title) (festival title)
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Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
Portugal:75 min (original version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Filming Locations:
MOVIEmeter:
81%
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