Listen

A searing indictment of the UK's indictment of the UK's social service system if ever there was one, Listen is basically a low-budget film about a poor Portuguese couple living in London who have their kids taken away under the most dubious of circumstances.

Their little girl is deaf with bruises on her back, the son is violently ill and the other one is just a baby who won't stop crying. Not an ideal day for the welfare checkers to come a-knocking you might say, and once the adoption process stops it's very hard to stop.

Listen has good acting from all participants (apart from the kid who plays the little boy, he seemed a bit too 'polished' to me) and a very believable plot to boot which must be every mother's worst nightmare. It could easily have been longer though, with the most abrupt of endings arriving at around the 70 minute mark.

A shame really, as with a bit more time spent on the narrative and a few extra scenes this could've been something a bit special. Instead, we have a decent piece of cinema which feels as a whole unsatisfying with a pretty disappointing conclusion.

Ah well. It was worth watching once at least. 5/10.

And real indeed since this is something that hasappend in real life. A Portuguese couple living in London suburbs have their three chuldren (which includes a little girl who is deaf ) taken form them by social security for adoption without any serioius charge against them. The whole movie shows the fight and reaction those parents do trying to reverse that unfair decision. The mother is specially reactive sometimes with violent verbal and physical posture. Lucia Moniz does an excellent performing joc as Bela, the mother. Very convincing and realistic.movie.

A couple of Portuguese emigrants from the London suburbs face serious problems when Social Services decide to take their children away.

Ana Rocha de Sousa cleared herself from the comparisons of her film with those of Ken Loach, one of my favorite British directors, who focuses mainly on social problems and discriminatory acts in the United Kingdom, but it is evident that the Portuguese director has in her first feature the "British style" present (she studied at London Film School), in her own way.

It is such a real and powerful drama that it is difficult (or impossible, say) not to feel uncomfortable and disturbed watching Listen, much because of the expressiveness and emotion that Lúcia Moniz (as Bela) conveys, in contrast with the silence and emotional pain showned by Rúben Garcia (as Jota).

The photography is very particular and interesting, out of the standard that we are used to in Portuguese films.

All the recognition given to this film is more than deserved.

The story centers around an immigrant couple that fights the system to get their kids back! Basically, the movie explanes the way social services behaves with immigrant families in the UK. As a Portuguese I felt every pain in Lucia's eyes and the anger she felt when they took her kids away. UK should be ashamed of their behavior! The government must change the law now!! The movie is based on real events and I hope the real family is proud with all the actors that portraits every character.

From the little girl spying the world through her own lens to the mother's despair for the loss of her children, this movie is both a look at one side of our complicated, sometimes messed-up society, and a cinematographic experience for a young director.

Keeping my expectations low, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The director, Ana Rocha de Sousa, shows her ability to catch emotions from the right shot. I was moved by Lúcia Moniz's performance. I do wonder how accurate this story is to reality... I sure hope it isn't, but I'm not keeping my hopes up for that.

However, the movie is short, which it shows as the story comes to a resolution rather quickly. Too quickly for what we expect the reality of social services to be. All feels too simple for what is a very complicated process.

In any case, bravo.