God's Comedy (1995) User Reviews

here it is a great Portuguese Film

[r_valle_1 · 8/10 · 27 January 2009]

This one is definitively a good film, a Portuguese one. João César Monteiro is provocative, hilarious and he is touching in some hounds of Portuguese society. This is not pop corn movie, it's not one and half hour of pure action. it's a film, it's Art, so therefore it's better to prepare yourself with some culture to understand it. This film has a lot of references to literature,movies and paintings.We can see on Joao de Deus a little bit of Nosferatu on the way he seduces the young girls, and his fetishes are in the books from Sade.There's bunch of great character beyond João de Deus. Judite a ex whore who runs a ice cream factory, the Butcher Father OF joaninha, Rosalinho and Joaninha of sweet eyes who seduces and gets seduced by João de DEUS. It's a disturbing movie which will make you laugh, annoy, irritate, think and in the end wish for more.

This is the man who irritated a whole country by making a film all in black. (Snow White)

The epitomy of Dark Humour in Portuguese cinema. Essential for any cinema enthusiast!

[mehobulls · 8/10 · 27 September 2020]

Longer, more obvious and gratuitous than its predecessor, here the social criticism is not so present. João himself seems to be completely absorbed with all the lust, a total pervert to be honest, and the scenes with the butcher's young daughter (who came from nowhere) were dragged for way too long. I have no idea what's the symbolism behind the dance number and the crushed eggs... but damn, it was bizarre.

Comedy genre has become poor after the sad demise of Joao Cesar Monteiro.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 20 June 2007]

The great master of comic genre Joao Cesar Monteiro has made some of the most outlandish films in the history of Portuguese cinema. Very few people know that films made by him do not have any parallel in World cinema. His films are bold in the sense that they carry very minimal plot weight and rely heavily on the zany moods of its characters. Those who have seen films by the "highly unusual" German director Herbert Achternbusch will easily catch a glimpse of this Portuguese iconoclast's vision. It is true that in this particular film things happen at a slow pace but they do not dampen anyone's spirits. One has to be patient in order to enjoy the richness of dialogs which are absolutely hilarious. They flow effusively from Joao Cesar Monteiro's mouth as like Woody Allen, he has also given many hilarious performances.A very mature, efficient and perfect visual balance is achieved in the final moments of the film as some unexpected events are depicted. If all this sounds interesting to you, please go for Joao Cesar Monteiro box set published by Paulo Branco's which is available in France.

The weaker mask of João César Monteiro

[umyde · 9/10 · 16 October 2002]

Every João César Monteiro movie I see drives toward one conclusion: although being, in Portugal, the soul director whose vision of life, lust and decay is comparable to that of Baudelaire, Monteiro lacks the force of will that would make him a Rimbaud. The character João de Deus, central figure of a trilogy of which A COMÉDIA DE DEUS is the first part is none other than João César Monteiro masked as a detached and unsure version of himself. To see and to reflect on the weakest side of idealism.

Overrated, Dull and Boring

[claudio_carvalho · 1/10 · 30 April 2012]

Today I have bought "God's Comedy" on an imported DVD. Actually a very cheap DVD without Menu; spoken in Portuguese from Portugal (very difficult to be understood by a Brazilian); and subtitles in English that can not be removed.

I had great expectations with this movie, based on the IMDb User Rating of 7.2; the reference on the front cover of the DVD ("Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Winner"; and the name of the famous Portuguese director João César Monteiro, since I was curious to see a film of this director.

Unfortunately I found "A Comédia de Deus" overrated, dull and boring and I have stopped watching this film approximately at 70 minutes running time. As far as I saw, the plot is inexistent: João de Deus (Max Monteiro) is the manager of the ice-cream shop Paraíso dos Gelados (meaning Paradise of the frozen ones). He is very concerned with cleansing and demands that the girls wash their hands carefully to avoid a health problem. This pretentious film is so lame and boring that I was not able to see it until the end and I have skipped it. My vote is one.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

strange, strange, strange!

[irmaladouce · 1/10 · 7 August 2002]

If you like to see a strange old man messing around with innocent young girls - which are even working for him - you're right! And you'll also see a lot of strange "games" with food - befor and after having been eaten...I know i didn't understand the deeper sense of this movie, but it just was to strange for me...Don't!

Garbage

[ssalemi · 21 July 2003]

Pretentious, tedious pseudo-art. Probably written as a play and then adapted to a film. Virtually unwatchable, complete waste of time. One "hangs in there" waiting for the film to improve, but it never does. Lots of classical music gives the illusion of quality and high-art, remove the music, and you have a film-school throw-away, the entire thing should have gone unreleased. Lots of pretty young women, but merely a tease/window dressing. SKIP IT! So many good films, so little time...

Did they see the same movie I saw?

[Red-125 · 3/10 · 23 June 2013]

The Portuguese film A Comédia de Deus was shown in the U.S. with the title, God's Comedy (1995). The movie was written and directed by João César Monteiro, who also stars in the film.

This movie carries a respectable IMDb rating of 7.2. When I see a rating this high for a film this bad, I ask myself, "Did they see the same movie I saw?"

Here's a film about about an older man who seduces young girls and maintains a pubic hair collection. He gives one young woman a milk bath, then strains the milk to collect the hair. The movie has been described as "an oddball sex comedy." Very oddball, not much comedy. Very sick.

dont' do it! don't

[Koenschoen · 1/10 · 27 December 2001]

To be honest I cannot elaborate on this one, as I only saw the first half hour of the movie. Comédia de Deus for me is the only movie that I ever ran away from, after some short debating with my two companions, leaving the other two spectators the cinema to themselves (I still sometimes wonder whether they managed to sit it out). The first half hour (fair is fair) is the most bewildering piece of fiction I ever saw, combining the utter idiocy of, say, the Police Academy series with the astounding 'la-di-dah, oh, what great art I'm making'-attitude of films as "Ulysses's Gaze".

Worst first half hour ever, but hey, maybe the rest was good. Go check yourself, though, because I've seen the last of this one.