O Testamento do Senhor Napumoceno

"Testamento" is a retrospective of the life, the loves, and the labors of Cape Verde's wealthiest man told after his passing with flashbacks. Always good natured and even tempered, what this wistful little Portuguese dramady lacks in ambition and extremes of entertainment value it makes up for in its breezy, picture postcard beauty of Cabo Verde and the colorful visages of its mostly Brazilian cast. Not for everyone, some foreign film buffs might qualify this little flick as a "gem". (B-)

Note - Cape Verde is a Portuguese colony of about nine small islands in the North Atlantic 400 miles West of Senegal, Africa. I'd never heard of it either.

This movie has more than its beautiful scenery - the Cape Verdan islands. Featuring a great acting cast and a 3-minute performance of world music star Cesaria Evora, the film tells the story of a local business man who disinherits his nephew and leaves his money and estate to his daughter, he never officially recognized. His life story is told by himself on tapes he left her and through her questions to everybody, he knew. It is a romantic story, describing the main character with gentle humour. The few (discrete)love scenes remotely reminded me of some french movies.

The slow pace of the film is common to outstanding European and African directors - yes African (Cape Verde is close to Senegal) - think of Ousmane Sembene and Wim Wenders, add a few humorous touches and enjoy the human side of cinema. 8 out of 10!

This movie, which was the first production of the CPLP, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Portuguese language countries' community) is very touching as the love story it is. It's based on a novel by a cape verdian author (Germano de Almeida) and its scenery is precisely Mindelo, a Cape Verdean town. It's about the ascension to wealth of a poor emigrant, Napumoceno da Silva Araújo, who, with a mix of luck and smartness becomes the greatest commerciant of the region and the wealthiest man. The movie begins with the death of Napomuceno, followed by the reading of his final will (Testamento) which brings the surprise of an unheard daughter of him. Along with the will there are some recordings to be delievered to that daughter, containing in the voice of Napomuceno himself the story of his life. And so, from here on, we get to know through the tapes all his past, his tricks to achieve wealth and, the most important, his love sucessive love affairs and the love of his life, a woman named Adélia...

This movie is not deep in terms of the themes in it, it just portraits one man, or, most of all, one love story. If it is well told, as this was, a love story is enough to make a great movie, like this; the difference between a movie filled with deep thoughts and philosophy and a movie like this is the difference between a scientific or philosophical book and a book of poems; they are both important and can be both interesting, IF they are GOOD, like this movie. I must say that it resembled me Il postino a bit mainly because of the closed surrounding, they're both on unopened towns, but that's just it.

I also give the highest note to the soundtrack, inspired in morna from Cabo Verde and which is very attractive. And it is to mention also the presence of the great diva Cesária Évora singing an excellent "mar azul". The movie is also an excelent way to get in touch with the incredible landscapes of the beautiful Cabo Verde. Worth seeing, if not, for that...

To conclude I want to call the attention to the actor performing Napumoceno, Nelson Xavier, a great brazilian actor, who I knew already from some brazilian soap operas but who has here an outstanding performing, which goes from comic in some sex scenes and speeches to deeply dramatic in other scenes... Excelent indeed, in fact, excelent to all the cast, despite some almost irrelevant imperfections in pronounciation (brazilian actors were using portuguese pronounciation).

Nice beautiful and warm... 8/10

I read the book of Germano de Almeida and enjoyed both the simplicity and the chronological order by which the story is told. The style somehow fits and respects the main character of the story, which, as the title suggests, deals with Napumocenos life and legacy. When you enjoy a book it is often a risk to see the movie. Not only the director can have his own interpretation but the plot can change and bad acting can destroy the whole thing. In this case, watching the film was a big a pleasure as reading the book, because the adaptation does not destroy the plot and the acting is good, specially the actor who plays Napumoceno. In addition, the movie shows how beautiful Cape Verde is and enhances the story in this respect for audiences who, like me, never saw Cabo Verde. Conclusion: Worth to see even if you read the book or know the story.