God's Comedy

The great master of comic genre Joao Cesar Monteiro has made some of the most outlandish films in the history of Portuguese cinema. Very few people know that films made by him do not have any parallel in World cinema. His films are bold in the sense that they carry very minimal plot weight and rely heavily on the zany moods of its characters. Those who have seen films by the "highly unusual" German director Herbert Achternbusch will easily catch a glimpse of this Portuguese iconoclast's vision. It is true that in this particular film things happen at a slow pace but they do not dampen anyone's spirits. One has to be patient in order to enjoy the richness of dialogs which are absolutely hilarious. They flow effusively from Joao Cesar Monteiro's mouth as like Woody Allen, he has also given many hilarious performances.A very mature, efficient and perfect visual balance is achieved in the final moments of the film as some unexpected events are depicted. If all this sounds interesting to you, please go for Joao Cesar Monteiro box set published by Paulo Branco's which is available in France.

Every João César Monteiro movie I see drives toward one conclusion: although being, in Portugal, the soul director whose vision of life, lust and decay is comparable to that of Baudelaire, Monteiro lacks the force of will that would make him a Rimbaud. The character João de Deus, central figure of a trilogy of which A COMÉDIA DE DEUS is the first part is none other than João César Monteiro masked as a detached and unsure version of himself. To see and to reflect on the weakest side of idealism.

Longer, more obvious and gratuitous than its predecessor, here the social criticism is not so present. João himself seems to be completely absorbed with all the lust, a total pervert to be honest, and the scenes with the butcher's young daughter (who came from nowhere) were dragged for way too long. I have no idea what's the symbolism behind the dance number and the crushed eggs... but damn, it was bizarre.

Too long.

Poor sound quality.

Some funny bits here and there.

If you aren't Portuguese don't bother watching you won't get the subtle humour.

Subject of the movie is weird.

Acting is mediocre at best.

Definitely not a 7,2 in IMDB.

I don't dislike these kind of slow paced movies mainly based on dialogue but this one is weak.

I feel like some Portuguese viewers feel compelled to rate this movie so high in order to feel they belong to some cultural elite and to feel smarter than the average movie viewer.

For me this movie is a bit pretentious and not that deep or remotely entertaining. Basically it follows the whims of a bored and boring pedo.

Portugal has of one the weakest cinemas in Europe, it's a cultural desert where mediocrity is celebrated as intellectually superiority.

To be honest I cannot elaborate on this one, as I only saw the first half hour of the movie. Comédia de Deus for me is the only movie that I ever ran away from, after some short debating with my two companions, leaving the other two spectators the cinema to themselves (I still sometimes wonder whether they managed to sit it out). The first half hour (fair is fair) is the most bewildering piece of fiction I ever saw, combining the utter idiocy of, say, the Police Academy series with the astounding 'la-di-dah, oh, what great art I'm making'-attitude of films as "Ulysses's Gaze".

Worst first half hour ever, but hey, maybe the rest was good. Go check yourself, though, because I've seen the last of this one.