FilmFan
11-04-2009, 09:41 PM
http://hotvnews.com.pt/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/alice1.jpg
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Marco Martins
Starring: Nuno Lopes
IMDB rating: 7.3
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459072/
I realised the other day that I hadn't yet seen a Portugese film. I'd seen a couple that are Portugese language, but they were from Brazil. For some reason, it seems as if Portugal doesn't produce a great deal of films, or maybe it does but they just don't get much attention. Anyway, after looking around for a bit I decided to watch Alice, a story of a father obsessively searching for his daughter.
Mario is the father of Alice, a young girl who went missing months before. Almost all of his time is devoted to finding her. In the early morning he travels around the city, visiting the houses and shops of people who have agreed to let him place cameras on their balconies. Then he goes home with his collection of tapes and watches them all, in the hope that he might spot her.
As you'd expect, all of this has a negative influence on the other areas of his life, and his marriage seems to have a certain coldness to it. After continued searching, Mario eventually comes across video footage of a girl he believes may be his daughter, and goes to the spot the next day to try and find out if it's really her.
The film that this most reminded me of was actually Hidden, which I saw not long before. Both feature a mystery with a husband and father searching for the truth, and both are quite slow-moving.
Of all the fims I've watched, this one had the least dialogue and the slowest pace. Despite that, it wasn't at all boring. I'm not exactly sure why that was, but even long shots of the father walking along or sitting on a train held my attention, and the lead actor deserves a lot of credit for putting on a good performance even in the scenes in which he did not speak. Body language, facial expressions...I'm not certain what exactly it was, but he did a perfect job of playing the character.
This is obviously a very sad film, and as such isn't likely to life your spirits or lighten your mood. Having said that, this is the story of a missing child, and as such it's to be expected that there won't be much happiness to take from it.
Very well made and original.
6.75
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Marco Martins
Starring: Nuno Lopes
IMDB rating: 7.3
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459072/
I realised the other day that I hadn't yet seen a Portugese film. I'd seen a couple that are Portugese language, but they were from Brazil. For some reason, it seems as if Portugal doesn't produce a great deal of films, or maybe it does but they just don't get much attention. Anyway, after looking around for a bit I decided to watch Alice, a story of a father obsessively searching for his daughter.
Mario is the father of Alice, a young girl who went missing months before. Almost all of his time is devoted to finding her. In the early morning he travels around the city, visiting the houses and shops of people who have agreed to let him place cameras on their balconies. Then he goes home with his collection of tapes and watches them all, in the hope that he might spot her.
As you'd expect, all of this has a negative influence on the other areas of his life, and his marriage seems to have a certain coldness to it. After continued searching, Mario eventually comes across video footage of a girl he believes may be his daughter, and goes to the spot the next day to try and find out if it's really her.
The film that this most reminded me of was actually Hidden, which I saw not long before. Both feature a mystery with a husband and father searching for the truth, and both are quite slow-moving.
Of all the fims I've watched, this one had the least dialogue and the slowest pace. Despite that, it wasn't at all boring. I'm not exactly sure why that was, but even long shots of the father walking along or sitting on a train held my attention, and the lead actor deserves a lot of credit for putting on a good performance even in the scenes in which he did not speak. Body language, facial expressions...I'm not certain what exactly it was, but he did a perfect job of playing the character.
This is obviously a very sad film, and as such isn't likely to life your spirits or lighten your mood. Having said that, this is the story of a missing child, and as such it's to be expected that there won't be much happiness to take from it.
Very well made and original.
6.75