Os Imortais

With a big, big cast, full of famous portuguese actors, Vasconcelos goes back to the crime and shows us a country in the mid 80's, ready to begin looking forward but still too much attached to its memories of war in Africa. 5 bad men from the army return to Portugal, but they're not yet ready to fit he social scheme, and so start to get involved with drug dealing, arms, and a lot of bruises to women. One inspector, at the end of his career, will be the only one to get close to the truth... but will he get there in time? A movie that brilliantly uses a past of TV images to tell parts of the story and a movie that reflects the cinema in Portugal, placing the past each time more in the past.

For me, Os Imortais is one of the best Portuguese movies of all time and one of the best movies of 2003 in the world. The cast is excellent and António Pedro Vasconcelos does an amazing jog.

Nicolau Breyner reveals himself as a fantastic drama-actor (much better than in his comedy roles). Emmanuelle Seigner shows us a great performance (great as the Ninth Gate one) and Rogério Samora and Joaquim de Almeida reassured that they are two of the best Portuguese actors ever. Rui Unas, the surprise (he is a famous TV talk-show host), gives us a remarkable Vítor Pratas with a great sense of humor. And with minor-roles occupied by actresses with the quality of Alexandra Lencastre and Maria Rueff, this movie surely proves that Portugal can make excellent cinema.

If you see this movie, rent it or buy it and you'll see it's money well spent.

I recommend this must-see to everyone who likes good movies, rather than popcorn American movies.

Great director... Great cast... Great script... Great photography...

Normally when you see a movie of which you had read the book you get disappointed, because the movie cannot contain everything that the book has, although in this case that doesn't happen cause the movie is not just an attempt of put into a movie the story of the book, it really is more than just that, if you read the book you'll see that there are many many different changes from the story of the book to the movie, its almost like you've read a book that contains the same characters but in a somehow different story, so that's the first reason why I think this is a really good movie, but there are others, like the great screen play, the really good cast and others, although I think that the adaptation of the story is really good.

A great portuguese movie, with a great cast. Nicolau Breyner at his best. the movie turns around 4 ex-war soldiers, that, after returning home have to find something to do with their lifes. and what better thing to do than rob a bank after a trip to Algarve holiday´s paradise. Some good action and a quiet few scenes of hot sex !! A must...

Well, this is just an excellent movie from Vasconcellos. The characters are very well worked out, the actors are very good, especially Unas and Breyner. Towards the middle the film seems to become a little slow, but drama soon picks up again until the end.

The exorcism of the African colonial war, where about one million Portuguese fought in the sixties and early seventies, is yet to be completed, but no doubt this film is an important contribution to the process. It depicts whit dark humor, disenchantment and a strange sadness the difficult lives that virtually all Portuguese had in the years after the war: those who fought in Africa; their relatives and friends in Europe; and those who lived in the colonies and had to return.