“The world belongs to hysterics” or “and a goat would say better.” This film, shot by the classic of Portuguese cinema - Manuel di Oliveira attracted me by the fact that it was shot in one of the most delightful places on the planet - on the Azores, or rather on the largest of them - on the island of San Miguel.
Stazu note that nature in the frame is present both visually and soundly (the noise of the sea, the wind), but still is secondary and after the 35th minute, when the action is transferred to the room, remains only in replicas about thick fogs and screams of volcanoes.
So, we have a party where two couples “exchange partners” and start endless conversations that only movie fans can withstand. The theme of these conversations is love.
Even my beloved Michelle Piccoli, whose image always includes sanity and charm, falls into “island hysteria” and begins to carry complete nonsense, captivating one of the heroines. (although the silver angels he threatens to steal are definitely worth it).
I also note that the film is divided into 2 parts, between which 5 years pass. The composition of the faces is the same. Dialogues are somewhat calmer and more substantive. Michelle Piccoli is still on the hit.
The conversations are really tense and speculative, the passions are fake and the teeth of Piccoli are fake, but for some reason I left this film for the first time, a week later I returned to it again. Perhaps it’s just the magic of the author’s film... hard to say.
Of the beauty in this film is Irene Papas and her delightful voice, taking to distant distances, and of course an old house full of works of art.