Uma Vida Normal

In the tradition of "Ao Fim da Noite", Joaquim Leitão gives us another attempt to free the portuguese cinema from the cinema d'auteur and to make it more appealing to the general public. I don't remember if it was a success or not, but it really tries to be a film that can be seen by a "normal" audience. The story is vaguely interesting, Joaquim de Almeida being the stressed out prototype, and achieving some comic value between women, cigarrettes and pills. Generally, it is quite watchable, with some good cinematography by Daniel del Negro and atmospheric music by António Emiliano. Interesting to see how the DVD spruced it up, I only knew this movie from the TV broadcasts, which had some really bad sound. Maybe one day they release "Ao Fim da Noite" in such an edition, it deserved it.