Director Raúl Ruiz died in August 2011 during preproduction. Producer Paulo Branco offered the job of directing to actor John Malkovich, but Malkovich felt he wouldn't be able to do justice to Ruiz's vision, recommending instead Ruiz's widow and long-time collaborator, Valeria Sarmiento.
Linhas de Wellington (2012) was the official submission of Portugal to the Oscars® 2014 Best Foreign Language Film category.
The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defenses built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, constructed by Colonel Richard Fletcher and his Portuguese workers between November 1809 and September 1810, and used to stop Marshal Masséna's 1810 offensive. The Lines were declared a National Heritage by the Portuguese Government in March 2019.
PROLOGUE: "After the failed attempts of Junot and Soult in 1807 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte sent a mighty army led by Marshal Masséna to invade Portugal in 1810. The French had no difficulty reaching the center of the country where the Anglo-Portuguese army, led by General Wellington awaited them."