Sometimes, period pieces can be repetitive and badly executed, especially in terms of the settings, costumes, and storyline. However, Mysteries of Lisbon is quite the exception. In the first place, the title is catchy, and its set in Europe, so you are most certainly assured that this is going to be a wonderful thrill.
Adapted from the 1854 Portuguese novel by Camilo Castelo Branco, the story involves several characters, most of them of aristocratic lineage, high nobility. The characters include a jealous countess who follows her lover across Europe, a priest, a young orphan, a reformed crook who becomes a successful merchant, among others.
Joao is an orphan boy who doesn't know his parents, and the only father figure he knows is Father Dinis, the priest at the boarding school where he is staying. When he finally learns who his mother is, the hapless Angela de Lima, Countess of Santa Barbara, the story commences into a beautifully created intricate web where all the characters are related to each other or have come across each other in one point or another.
The movie is quite long, around 4 hrs 20 minutes, but the pacing is simply well done so that the story moves at a quick pace without any unnecessary pauses. the setting and the mise-en-scene is quite wonderfully done, especially the use of the miniature theater that is used to introduce different set of characters.
One of the themes that stood out here is how the nobility, despite the privileges of their titles, wealth and magnificent mansions, are quite miserable. For instance, the Countess of Santa Barbara had an impossible love, and she was forced to give up her child and marry a man who mistreated her through out the duration of their marriage. And when she finally meets him, she only gets to spend a little time with him before she decides to enter a convent. So do the rest of the aristocratic characters that are revealed later on.
It is truly unfortunate that Raul Ruiz passed away, because Mysteries of Lisbon shows the mark of a true film-maker who uses film as a work of art that is well directed, well shot and well produced.
This is indeed a magnificent and brilliant film.
Adapted from the 1854 Portuguese novel by Camilo Castelo Branco, the story involves several characters, most of them of aristocratic lineage, high nobility. The characters include a jealous countess who follows her lover across Europe, a priest, a young orphan, a reformed crook who becomes a successful merchant, among others.
Joao is an orphan boy who doesn't know his parents, and the only father figure he knows is Father Dinis, the priest at the boarding school where he is staying. When he finally learns who his mother is, the hapless Angela de Lima, Countess of Santa Barbara, the story commences into a beautifully created intricate web where all the characters are related to each other or have come across each other in one point or another.
The movie is quite long, around 4 hrs 20 minutes, but the pacing is simply well done so that the story moves at a quick pace without any unnecessary pauses. the setting and the mise-en-scene is quite wonderfully done, especially the use of the miniature theater that is used to introduce different set of characters.
One of the themes that stood out here is how the nobility, despite the privileges of their titles, wealth and magnificent mansions, are quite miserable. For instance, the Countess of Santa Barbara had an impossible love, and she was forced to give up her child and marry a man who mistreated her through out the duration of their marriage. And when she finally meets him, she only gets to spend a little time with him before she decides to enter a convent. So do the rest of the aristocratic characters that are revealed later on.
It is truly unfortunate that Raul Ruiz passed away, because Mysteries of Lisbon shows the mark of a true film-maker who uses film as a work of art that is well directed, well shot and well produced.
This is indeed a magnificent and brilliant film.