I came to this via an article in the Guardian newspaper about films one hadn't seen in 2023 but should have. This one in particular intrigued me enough to seek it out and it was worth it.
I really wasn't being convinced at first, but then got the idea about the forest and the upholding of tradition of a pretender royal family conceptualised in the formal setting of their evening meals together. Duty, tradition and service outwardly were the watchwords of the day; indifference was the real mood. The former come back to haunt young Alfredo when it was his time to assume the mantle of empty kingship.
Set in two separate years, the piece was in turns moving, fun, sexy, artistic and sad. The unsimulated love scene between Alfredo and Afonso was an integral part of the flow and not grafted on for titillation, as so often happens. Its intimacy made it harder to bear for the viewer when stultifying duty called.
Two parts of the film moved me terribly. The final song sung at the funeral. And the firemen insisting that he have "a Pietà", which harked back to the tableaux fifty years earlier. That was sublime.
Thank you to the Guardian's film critic!
