manumfernandes

It's an impressive World War I drama focusing on a portuguese soldier who got lost in the African forest, and it's a visual treat for sure. Zacarias is played really well by João Nunes Monteiro and his "adventure" of misfortunes takes us to the heart of this continent. We see the impact of colonialism (especially at the beginning where the soldiers are transported by african men, something I didn't know that actually happened and would never imagine), the impact of war and how this almost death sentence of being alone on this dangerours territory has great consequences on a young man disillusioned with the riches of being a war hero.

It has a clear influence from "Apocalypse Now", cinematography-wise, with the night being captured perfectly by the camera and with the creation of an almost drug-induced scenery with the bizarre colours all around. It does not create a visceral and deep experience that a movie like this promises, but still, it does really well in what it achieves.

Surprisingly a great film with an important story to tell. The senior population are prone to be abandoned by their children. This man, Fernando Ulisses, upon seeing that his family went on vacation and left him on the hospital, decides that he has to walk out by himself, otherwise he will be there forever victim to the scrutiny of the other patients.

So he begins an adventure with this punk-rock girl, Inês, that he meets along the way. It could be a generic film, but it's very interesting and captivating with excellent acting. Rui Mendes and Mafalda Tavares are fantastic in the whole film and deliver heartfelt and sincere performances that work really well together.

A very harsh documentary with small portions of dialogue, just enough for us to create the narrative the images elicit on us. Most of the time, we simply see dogs, they won't tell us anything, they will just go around with their lives completely ignorant to the camera and what it means.

Sometimes, we followed these dogs, other times we saw historical archive footage of the efforts to launch dogs into space. Other times, the images were violent, not for those who are faint of hear but they were real images that depicted what these dogs were submited to.

Once regarded as giants in space, now homeless on the streets.