The Northern Land / A Corte do Norte Series: 46th New York Film Festival [Sept. 26 – Oct. 12, 2008] Director: João Botelho, Country: Portugal, Release: 2008, Runtime: 122
Portuguese director João Botelho returns to the festival with this magnificent adaptation of a novel by Agustina Bessa Luis (also a great favorite of Manoel de Oliveira).
A young woman searches for the true story of a distant ancestor, a noblewoman who scandalized society when she first moved to the island of Madeira. Through interlocking stories that cross centuries, classes and lifestyles, the film links her story to those of several other of the island’s women, all of whose frustrated passions played out in well-appointed manor houses set along magnificent, ocean-swept landscapes. They’re also united as each is incarnated by the same amazing performer, Ana Moreira.
Using a painterly and richly melodramatic mise-en-scene, Botelho describes the history of an unfulfilled passion, an emotional energy transmitted from generation to generation of women. A great and welcome comeback for a uniquely gifted filmmaker.
Preceded by Surprise!: A loving husband learns that the birthday surprise you plan isn’t always the surprise you get.
Fabrice Maruca, France, 2007; 18m.
João Botelho
b. 1949, Lamego, Portugal
2007 A Terra Antes do Céu
2007 A Baleia Branca–Uma Ideia de Deus(TV)
2005 A Luz na Ria Formosa
2005 The Fatalist
2003 The Woman Who Believed She Was President of the United States
2001 Quem És Tu?
1998 Traffic
1994 Three Palm Trees
1993 Here on Earth
1992 On My Birthday
1988 Hard Times NYFF
1985 A Portuguese FarewellND/NF
1982 Conversa Acabada
