For those who have had a taste of Portuguese cinema by watching films by Joao Cesar Monteiro, Pedro Costa, Teresa Villaverde and Manoel de Oliviera surprising things are in store. This is because this particular film is a work of one of the most promising forces of Portuguese cinema.It is also true that "Sapatos Pretos" is a different film because of its depiction of a woman's vulnerability. This is because its central character receives a lot of beatings from her male lover. In some respects "Black Shoes" is a bizarre film because it is quite normal for viewers to get a glimpse of violence on screen but the trouble with this film is that when this terrible violence becomes nauseating viewers have no escape regardless of where they are watching the film, whether in a cinema hall or on their DVD player. This film will certainly interest those viewers who would like to catch up with unknown aspects of Portuguese cinema especially the crime film genre. A word of advice-better watch Joao Canijo second film called "Noite Oscura".