O Pátio das Cantigas

Disclaimer: I just watched the TV version. Sometimes movies are edited so they can be presented in a bigger or smaller TV slot. But this is not an excuse to all the bad things the movie presents and I'm sure 90% of what you are about to read sticks to the cinema version.

1 - To call this a remake of the great 1940's (42 I believe) original is deceiving. The only thing that was maintained was the location (typical old Lisbon) and the names of some characters. The rest was just advertising to make people go see the movie (and it worked).

2 – The script is awful. It is really poorly written and always sounds mechanic and false. Most of the situations are unnatural. You get that "there's so much going wrong here" kind of feeling.

3 – The editing seems to have been done by someone that does not know what should be done or simply did not knew the movie/script. I got the same feeling described in the last point.

4 – It's impossible to understand if there are good actors in this movie. The girls where chosen because they are beautiful and the men are just a bunch of average comedians in real life. I cannot blame them in particular since the zero character depth might be due to character direction.

5 – There are some absolutely ridiculous/absurd dialogues. Again, all over the movie.

6 – The film is supposed to be a comedy. I saw ZERO funny jokes or dialogues.

7 – Its a film that targets old people and families (including children). On this context, it has some gratuitous and totally out of the context sex scenes. I'm not a puritan, but this is definitely not the movie for them.

8 – I will not give a score of 1 because there was a lot of money involved and we can see that. Also, for the surprising Bollywood finale. It was the only interesting part of the movie.

It's sad that in a country where money for movie production is scarce this ended up as the Portuguese blockbuster of the year, pulverizing every other possible good productions. And due to its success, I'm sure we will see some similar things over the next years...

This movie was a huge disappointment. It had everything to be good, but it turned out bad, really, really bad. There may be spoilers ahead, although no specific movie scene is referred. On the original the Narciso character is the main character, and here it is like a supporting role. Cesar Mourao, who should be the lead and carry out the movie, turned out doing a poor job, mostly by director choice, and not his performance as an actor. To someone who has never seen the original movie, it was not made clear that Narciso is the main character. Miguel Guilherme is a wonderful actor who spent the whole movie doing a bad and forced accent. It turns out not funny at all. I've always loved his work on TV, but his Evaristo is annoying as hell, and not in a good way. Then the humor: with Rui Unas, Aldo Lima, Manuel Marques, and José Pedro Vasconcelos this could have smarter and funnier humour, but it turned out to be "Malucos do Riso" and "Batanetes" humour. Maybe I am not the target, as being a 31 male that usually goes to the movies. Maybe this is a movie for kids or a really old citizen that remembers seeing the 1942 original in the movies. There are xenophobic jokes, which had a potential to be funny and bold, but are overall just bad taste. And what to say about the stupid ending? Everything was rushed and then from the sudden, it pops out with all the silliness and no clear conclusion. The director and writers had no idea how to end, or it could probably be for editing purposes, as the movie's length could be becoming an issue.

Overall, this was a big box office success, but mostly because of all the investment in advertising it had. It could be a great success selling tickets and be a good movie like for example "A Gaiola Dourada" managed to be. But in conclusion it didn't deserve to wear the "o Pátio das Cantigas" title as it is shameful inspired movie (please do not call it a remake) from the 1942 classic.

First, I cannot tell about how good this remake is in comparison to the old one because i didn't see the entire old one, just some parts that are very popular. Despite of that, i can say that the idea of the film is not being a strict remake but a remake that shows a society of the 21th century and their behavior. The film is full of young actors that are already famous from national TV series and programs, but that are starting to do the first steps in cinema. And i really liked their first steps, i think they can do more interesting things like this. About the story, is a typical neighborhood of Lisbon with very characteristic people and behaviors. Its good because the action takes part on the popular parties of the city and shows a bit how can the good mood of everyone transforms quickly in a little street wrangle. The film have a lot of funny parts that made the entire room(full!) laughing. Besides it shows Fado, that is also a good point to promote the city and the country. I think will be fun, not just to all Portuguese to watch this movie, but also to foreign people. Because after that they can travel to Lisbon in June and feel the amazing atmosphere of popular parties.

What a pleasant surprise... followed by absolute dismay. The film starts well indeed, photography is warm and inviting, and acting is accomplished. Some of the dialog is quirky, and you get a decidedly modern French (rather than old Portuguese) cinema feel. But then cracks start appearing in the canvas: certain character decisions seem to be outright obscure (why did Evaristo snap on Carlos after the party? How does Amália feel regarding, well, everyone else?) while others appear to no use at all (Oceana Balisio's character being the most obvious culprit). But the real clencher is the inordinate amount of scenes that seem to have been edited out for (I assume) brevity's sake, with complete disregard for cohesiveness or understandability. I won't elaborate so as to not give any spoilers but you will find them in the final third of the movie, a cardinal sin that leaves you with a bitter aftertaste when the credits roll. What a crying shame. 5/10

This film was an attempt to remake a classic of Portuguese cinema, from the Forties. It came at a time when it was fashionable, in Portugal, to remake old films.

Since comparisons are inevitable, this film loses in all of them. Not only was he not able to have a joke, but he destroyed the story told by the original film, where the lives of several residents of a Lisbon neighborhood intertwine and relate. Here, the script is simply a cross between romances and flirtations, more suited to a cheap soap opera. Under the cover of a remake, Leonel Vieira ended up making a new film, taking advantage of the original film elements such as the location, the names of the characters and some iconic scenes, caricaturally imitated. For example, the famous scene where Vasco, drunk, talks to the street lamp, or the other where he provokes the anger of Evaristo, who shoots him with a lot of articles from his shop. Those scenes, poured into this film, lost the fun and look ridiculous.

Another problem in this film was the affected and artificial performance of almost the entire cast. The actresses seem to have been chosen based on the size of their bra and the actors were recruited in the cheapest comedies and soap operas on national TV. Some characters, the ones that should be the most comical, like Evaristo or Narciso, were reduced to mere caricatures of themselves. This was truly a mistake, as they were the most beloved characters for the public. In the original, they were played by Vasco Santana and António Silva, two of the most talented comedians in national cinema, at a time when making comedy in Portuguese cinema was not the same thing as making a clown figure. I don't even mention the unfortunate sex scene involving the actress Bruna Quintas, at a certain point in the film. In addition to being totally out of context in a family movie, it attests to the ability of the Portuguese to involve sex where it was needless just to sell something.

Unfortunately, this film was a success. I still don't understand, however, the need for this "remake". The original film has aged very well, has a large legion of admirers and is regularly shown on TV, which is saying something for a 70-year-old film. This is an absurd, unnecessary film and its objective was only to obtain money from the public.