Manhã Submersa

Who would prefer a "submerged morning" (meaningless in English) to the adequate rendition of the poetic original title, "morning mist"? Someone did. And that title may put off a number of people from watching this video. What a shame. The story is about a poor boy from a poor, rural family, that gets a high-school education in a catholic seminar as - in those days, which I'm old enough to recall, the 1950s - only the filthy reach or those living a large town could afford that luxury. And those that were determined to go into priesthood, often for the wrong reasons. The author of the novel - one of the best contemporary Portuguese writers, that you should try to read if you get hold of a translation - has done a romanticized autobiography here, and even plays the rector of the seminar, with top-notch marks. If you are not so much into social dramas, and religious and psychological conflicts, you should try to see this movie anyway: it has the best of Portuguese rural and mountain landscapes, the best cinematography, and wonderful music. Writing this made me refresh my memory of those magnificent views - aaah! - so that one even breathes fresh air. This film is the product of two loves that multiplied into a work of art, almost perfect: the words of Virgílio Ferreira, and the direction of Lauro António. I'm not so fond of Lauro António as a movie critic, but his film, this film, is definitely RECOMMENDED.