Cinema
Brandos Costumes
Alberto Seixas Santos · 1975
Synopsis
An apartment in Lisbon, a lower-middle-class family: the grandmother, faithful to the memory of the monarchy; the father, a republican in his ideas and a despot at home; the mother and the eldest daughter, won over to the regime; the younger daughter, who seeks free love and a different politics; and the maid. The life of the household unfolds alongside the regime's newsreels, parades, speeches and ceremonies, from its rise to its glory.
Context
The film, co-written with the poets Luísa Neto Jorge and Nuno Júdice, was shot for the most part before April 1974 and completed after the revolution; it was released at the Londres cinema in Lisbon on 18 September 1975. In the manner of Brechtian theatre, it alternates the domestic life of a family with newsreels of the Salazar era, so that the head of the family and the dictator answer one another; a speech by the mother to the maid repeats the text of an interview with Salazar. The title ironically reverses the formula of Portugal as a country of gentle manners.
Who it is for
Feature film in Portuguese, running a little over an hour; the family story alternates with archive footage and musical tableaux.
Prizes and reception
Selected in competition at Berlin, and regarded as one of the beacons of the Portuguese New Cinema.
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