Jornal da Mostra
Nº 357 > 28ª Mostra > 05/09/2005
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Venice 2005 - The european press spare no words in their praise of master Oliveira: the portuguese press, on the other hand, can only be described as provincial
With adjectives such as "magnificent, fascinating, marvellous", Maurizio Porro from the Italian daily 'Corriere della Sera", expresses his enchantment at Magic Mirror, Portuguese Master film maker Manoel de Oliveira's new film presented in competition at the 62nd Venice Film Festival. The French newspaper 'Libération', in an article by Olivier Séguret, spares no words in commending the actors, diva Leonor Silveira ("one of the greatest actresses in the world") and Ricardo Trepa ("excellent"), and in describing "Miroir Magique" - "hallucinating, dazzling, a master-piece..." - words to the effect that "the Master (Manoel de Oliveira) makes us forget that two years from now he will actually be 100 years old..."And 'right there, close to ' are the Portuguese press, as provincial as ever before. The way in which they have systematically assailed their most famous and internationally esteemed film maker, following the presentation of his new film in Venice has been, to say the least, extremely disrespectful. The provincial aspects are evident when a son of Portugal, and moreso in the case of a grandfather or greatgrandfather, as in the case of Master Manoel de Oliveira, now in his nineties, is hailed as outstanding abroad, but is troubling to his countrymen when he is explicit about the secular immobility of many of his peers. How can it be that Manoel de Oliveira can be so idolized, so revered, studied, the subject of books worldwide (the next will be in Brazil, in a partnership between Mostra Internacional do Cinema and Cosac & Naify publishers), and yet be referred to disparagingly by his own kith and kin?
The very same Portuguese press, (one should not generalize), that 'idealized' an absurd category of 'ironic applause' for his last but one film, A Talking Picture, highly commended in the same Venice Film Festival, now state that Manoel de Oliveira was outmatched by George Clooney. Provincial meanness indeed... Both films, by Clooney and by Oliveira were programmed for the same day, and Oliveira's collective interview for the international press was preceded, in the same room, by Clooney's interview. The fact is that the provincial press were, in fact, 'chastised' by having to sit and listen to Master Oliveira's wise words while guaranteeing a hold over their seats for what was to follow and was of interest to them, namely, the Hollywood fetiche of one of the film stars of the moment - no matter whether Clooney had or not, in fact, produced an intelligent, aggressive film, speaking up for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Do not think for a minute, dear readers, that journalism is so very pristine. For a long time, now, journalists have felt themselves guided as by remote control, by the greater interests of the great industry of the cinema. The choicest in Hollywood, at this time graciously present in Venice, are doing little more than completing a publicity end-of-a-holiday ritual in Europe, where the territory of the Italian festival is but a bridge over to the country in France where the theater of Hollywood good-guys disembarks in Deauville for a festival of premières for the rentrée post-summer.
If the Catholic church with its manifest conservatism through its journalistic vehicle 'L'Osservatore Romano' had the same strength as in times since gone, which the Portuguese press still believe it does have, it would most certainly point to Magic Mirror for inclusion in its index of works and thoughts to be listed as forbidden and definitely not recommendable to the faithful.
With Magic Mirror, Manoel de Oliveira manages to supersede the daring in Almodóvar and Buñuel together, although their style is unique and incomparable. At the Venice 2004 Film Festival, Oliveira was awarded great tribute with a Golden Lion for his career - with the Humanity award at Mostra Internacional de Cinema, 2004. The same year as A Talking Picture was released, Italian FilmCritica magazine rendered him great tribute in December 2003 with the Argentina movie theater sold out to an audience of 2,500, with admirers and authorities trying for a ticket. There, he was applauded, continuously, for over 20 minutes.
Manoel de Oliveira's next film will be Belle Toujours, a continuation, 40 years after, of Belle de Jour, an impact film by Luis Buñuel in 1967, with Juliette Binoche in the main role that was previously Catherine Deneuve's. What more can the Portuguese press possibly want inflicting depreciation and hurt on Master Oliveira? They would most certainly rather he were a poor old soul, to offer him provincial hugs and favors. Too late, Manoel de Oliveira has, for too long now, been a patrimony of mankind. He no longer belongs to the Portuguese alone.
The Portuguese detractors are, fortunately, doomed to isolation. For their benefit, we shall translate a review from the Italian newspaper 'La Repubblica' (August 2, 2005 - by Paolo D'Agostini), with a passage from yet another respectful tribute to the film Magic Mirror. "... In short, he (Manoel de Oliveira), more than countless other film makers who might well be his greatgrandchildren, is the one to hold the banner high - of inventive creativity of the seventh art..."
I suggest that more articles such as these be translated and sent to the editors of Portuguese newspapers.
