Sangue do Meu Sangue

SANGUE DO MEU SANGUE is the most recent film from João Canijo, a respectable Portuguese director. Like other movies he has done before it combines drama with realistic "social" cinema in a very personal and distinctive kind of cinematography. In fact in this movie he keeps the same genre of plot, characters, sets, script and camera work he already did in previous works like SAPATOS PRETOS or GANHAR A VIDA. Canijo always does movies about dark themes, showing us the dark side of society.

This one is no exception. It's a powerful drama about a family which live with low recourses in a working-class neighborhood, in Lisbon's periphery. MÁRCIA (Rita Blanco) is a single mother that lives with her daughter CLAUDIA (Cleia Almeida), son, JOCA (Rafael Morais) and sister, IVETE (Anabela Moreira). CLAUDIA is studying in college to be a nurse, unlike JOCA who fell in the world of criminality (without his family to know though…). IVETE is a single woman in her 30s and has a very solitary life… All these characters perform two parallel stories, both quite dramatic and intense… The first one is about CLAUDIA and her relationship with a teacher (much older than her of course) and the second one is about JOCA and the drugs he stole from his dealer, TELMO (Nuno Lopes), in order to make some money; but TELMO will find out and things will not be easy to JOCA…

This movie, which is always set in a context of social misery, shows us these two complex and multifaceted stories about forbidden love, desolation, sadness, misery (social and human...), frustration, betrayal and revenge.

I enjoyed the acting, I think it's generally good, but I have to mention the performances of Rita Blanco, Anabela Moreira, and Nuno Lopes. These actors really do a great job! About the director's work I also think it's good, in his own personal way, but I must say I found a bit confusing those scenes where there're parallel talks (at parts we see parallel conversations in the same scene and it's really confusing to have two pairs of people talking different issues at the same time. Watch these scenes with subtitles would be even better!...).

All in all it's a good Portuguese film and I score it 7/10.

There are no special effects, over-the-top car chases and its not in 3D. What lies at the center of this story is humanity and their daily joys and sufferings.

"Sangue do meu Sangue" is set in the sprawling barrios in the outskirts of Lisbon where everyday is a struggle for survival. The spotlight is placed on the Fialho clan. Marcia Fialho, the family matriarch has single handedly raised her two children: Claudia, a young woman with a promising future as a nurse engaged to Cesar and Joca who engages in nefarious activities to earn some cash. The family lives in a cramped apartment together with Ivete, Marcia's sister whose self-consiousnes adds to the drama in the story. Claudia is having an affair with her university professor, and Marcia vehemently opposes it. While Marcia focuses all her attentions on her daughter, her son is left unattended, though he has developed a close, almost incestuous relationship with her aunt Ivete. But their lives are about to become unstable through a series of events that will leave all of them shattered beyond repair.

Its very rare to find a movie where the characters aren't merely caricatures that have absolutely no motives for their actions and lack of passion. The characters formed by João Canijo, the director, are very complex and admirable. Marcia stands out as a model of female heroism as she will go to any length to defend her family, protect them and ensure their daily upbringing. Their emotionally unstable nature can also be seen through their hopes and actions.

The camera work and use of non-verbal communication is simply excellent, the mark of true film making and positioning of camera angles in order to communicate images that tell the story. All the characters carry their secrets, and in a setting where living space is cramped, the hushed whispers at strategic corners of the small apartment show that secrets cannot be easily hidden. For instance, Marcia and Claudia are forced to share a bed and conversations cannot be carried on in secret as characters will be passing by at one point or another.

Some of the pot twists that occur here are somewhat predictable, but they are done in such a way that you feel you are watching them for the first time.

This film is indeed a must watch, especially for those who appreciate film as a true work of art and entertainment.

I hope the members of the Academy see Blood of My Blood and nominate the film for Best Foreign Language Film. It is a Cassavetes/Scorsese/Tarantino kind of thriller, that will dry your goats. It's a thriller made of human dramas, rather than suspense or action, with great acting and a modern way of filming. Director Joao Canijo made use of surround sound and camera angles in order to have a complete view of two sequences/discussions at the same time, making ich view more defying.

Besides, Portugal never got a nomination from the Academy, and in the current crisis, no film is being produced or will be if we don't get this recognition. Nominating it will be a statement for Portugal to continue to have an industry.

This movie made a strong impact by exposing the scars of a society living on the margins. It humanizes and dignifies the suffering of the working class, refusing any glamourization or easy redemption. Canijo presents characters who live on the edge, doing so with fierce empathy, leaving the audience with the feeling of having lived, if only for a few hours, within that dark and intense universe. This film is, ultimately, a reflection on family love and the cost of survival in adverse conditions, where every choice is a double-edged sword. It is a work that leaves its mark, highlighting João Canijo's power to explore the human condition in its most complex and often uncomfortable dimensions.

I would have really liked to give this film 8-9 stars. Excellent photography and editing, which make the spectator feel with great realism the claustrophobic atmosphere of the tiny family house of the protagonists and other sceneries of the film. A masterly use of the sounds surrounding the action, with the omnipresent background noise of the TV and the various noises from the neighborhood which add authenticity to the scenes and the story. Very good performances of all actors. And a solid story about the lives of the members of a working class family, with perfectly depicted one-to-one and overall interactions between them, and which develops seamlessly and with increasing interest throughout the film (despite its more than 3 hours of length!). You feel a part of the scene often, understanding the attitudes and reactions of the different personages, each with a particular story at the center of his/her life, yet affected and conditioned by the relation and interactions with the rest of the personages.

Then why that weird soap opera-like twist with references to a Greek myth in the middle of the film???. It adds nothing to it, and instead makes the story less sound and consistent, twisted, and more proper of a TV serial. Few times a very good film was spoiled by so little, but so it is...