A cultural vision of Lisbon, which also illuminates the work and personal obsessions of Manoel de Oliveira.
This book by Manoel de Oliveira retraces the history of the film Lisbonne Culturelle that he made during the winter months of 1982-1983. This hour-long documentary is among the Portuguese filmmaker most secret works, and may be read in counterpoint to No, or the Vain Glory of Commanding, just as it may be set at the very heart of his fictional oeuvre (Val Abraham or The Covent) which it powerfully illuminates by revealing those films' deepest roots. One after another, the faces and the familiar, almost obsessive, themes which haunt this cinema are brought up: Father Antonio Viera and the Fifth Empire, Camoes, Fernando Pessoa, Camilo Castelo Branco and the April 25th Revolution.
Manoel de Oliveira's (Porto, 1908-2015) oeuvre is one of the most original chapters in the history of cinema. His work has received universal recognition as demonstrated by the host of awards from film festivals and academies worldwide. Amor de Perdição (1978), Francisca (1981), O sapato de cetim (1985), Non, ou A Vã Glória de Mandar (1990), Vale Abraão (1993) are some of his greatest accomplishments.
