Contre ton coeur

For some reason, keeping the camera on and not cutting anything on editing has become a symbol of quality and intellectualism in Portuguese cinema. I blame Manoel de Oliveira, but his movies at least had beautiful photography. This movie has none of that. This is a story of a family stuck in debt, unemployment and depression, seen though the eyes of a teenage girl. There was a potential to tell an interesting story about these issues, but the acting is mostly so-so and the movie drags on for so long that it becomes boring. The cinematography is unremarkable, as is most of the script. It all seems like the first movie of a film student, even though it is from an established director. Not recommended.