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Bookmark this pageThe Portuguese Nun (2009)
Director: Eugène Green
Movie review
From Time Out Online
Grand things have been claimed for Green’s admittedly (and appropriately) odd foray into Portuguese culture, but it must said it’s an uneven affair: elegant, witty, perky, but also sometimes risibly portentous, even tedious. A young actress arrives in Lisbon to play a Portuguese nun in a low-budget art movie directed by a noticeably poor dancer (played by Green himself); her various encounters as she wanders the city add up… well, to nothing of great consequence. Highlights include some aching fado and a visually luscious evocation of the white city; low points a lengthy dialogue with a real nun, and the endless straight-to-camera talking heads smacking of perverse affectation.Author: Geoff Andrew
Time Out Online London Film Festival 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Will said...
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Posted on Oct 22 2009 17:56
A disappointingly reactionary response.
Dismissing Green's techniques as "perversely affected" is especially short-sighted. Over his past three features he has developed a style that is wholly idiosyncratic, and really affecting when accepted on its own terms. There is nothing fatuous about it, and I could not imagine such a charge being leveled against similarly stylistically total directors like Wong Kar-wai, Arnaud Desplechin or Bresson.
Green's "Le Pont des Arts" and "Le Monde Vivant" are easily two of the most enthrallingly original and complete films of the early 00s. I have not yet seen "The Portuguese Nun", but GA's objections just seem too close to some of the more conservative French responses to Green's earlier work.
I agree that there are elements of his films that in another context could appear portentous, but somehow they cohere completely with Green’s overall aesthetic. However, they are certainly more rewarding on re-viewings and clearly require a more relaxed, receptive attitude. But, again, the same could be said with regard to the other directors I mentioned. - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Eugène Green
Cast: Leonor Baldaque, Adrien Michaux, Beatriz Batarda
Duration: 127 mins
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