Palavra e Utopia (2000) User Reviews

WORD AND UTOPIA (Manoel De Oliveira, 2000) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 3 December 2008]

The latest issue of Britain's oldest film magazine, "Sight and Sound" – to which I'm subscribed – features a 5-page article commemorating the upcoming centenarian birthday of Portugal's finest film-maker, Manoel De Oliveira. In it, writer Jonathan Romney describes WORD AND UTOPIA as "grueling…austere…one of the most willfully uncommercial films ever".

In fact, this 'modest epic' (my words) feels remarkably like one of Roberto Rossellini's latter-day made-for-TV biopics of important medieval figures, dealing as it does with a controversial 16th century Jesuit priest from Portugal, Fr. Antonio Vieyra. He stood up for the exploited natives of the New World, which didn't go hand in hand with the Church practices of the time but nonetheless earned him a devout following. He was also a respected theologian and orator (as amply displayed by the philosophical script); at one point, he's brought before the Queen (Oliveira regular Leonor Silveira) in a speechifying 'duel' with another well-known speaker of the era!

The film follows his life and career – from inexperienced novice to missionary, to luminary and martyr, up till his final days of progressively failing health and eyesight (during which he still strives to assemble for posterity both his past speeches as well as the history of his order). While the subject matter clearly isn't the most enticing and Oliveira's customarily unassuming style doesn't allow for much dramatic development, this still emerges a fairly interesting character study (with a suitably ardent lead performance) – though it's a decidedly long haul at 130 minutes.

Only if you have a special interest...

[dromasca · 5/10 · 10 August 2002]

This was a poor choice for my Friday night viewing. I am usually glad when my channel programming allows seeing something else than the usual American stuff. I like exploring new cinematographic territories, and I have been rewarded with many of the finest movies that I have ever seen. This was probably my first Portuguese movie, and it was made more promising as the imdb information was pointing to the director Manoel de Oliveira as to a veteran of the Portuguese cinema, some kind of a Bunuel of Portugal.

What a disappointment! The movie is so static, full of completely still scenes serving as background for human rights preaching in Catholic language. According to the official site - '"Palavra e Utopia" cannot be classified as a documentary, a biography, or a historical or didactic film, despite its chronological format. Rather, I would call it a fiction, with all the premises this will allow.' Actually it looks like a combination of the worst of the above. None of the rules of cinema fiction seem to be applied to create what a good film is about - emotion, identification with the characters, communicating the ideas in an artistic manner. Acting is good, but it does not help when all the rest of the movie is so boringly didactic.

I am not very familiar with Portuguese history. Father Viera's historic character seems to have been important (kind of a Thomas More of his country and time), and he would have deserved a better film.

Unless you are a fan of Portuguese history or moral preaching, you should avoid this film.

How to ruin what could have been an outstanding movie

[AndreB · 1/10 · 3 May 2002]

This movie is about Padre Antonio Vieira, a XVIIth Century Portuguese priest who lived in Brazil and became famous for his speeches standing up for the Indians, denouncing slavery and the way the Portuguese Crown ruled her south american colony.

It's really heartbreaking watching Padre Antonio Vieira's magnificent speeches being wasted in another of Manoel de Oliveira's ultra-boring, incompetent movies. First of all, this isn't really a movie about Padre Antonio Vieira but merely a collection of his speeches being declaimed. There is no story being told, no connection at all between the scenes. Oliveira in incapable of starting or ending a scene without someone opening or closing a door. These amateur directing tricks get really annoying after the sixth, seventh time. This movie has no musical soundtrack. Not one piece of music to lead the narrative. The camera language doesn't help either, because there isn't any. Except for a couple of travelings onwards and backwards during a sermon by Luis Miguel Cintra, the camera rests immobile; not one move to the side or with the zoom. The camera just lies there, frozen. The scene with the Dutch soldiers attacking a church and Indians coming out of it screaming is just too pathetic and childish to describe.

Padre Antonio Vieira's character is played by three different persons: Ricardo Trepa (young Vieira), Luis Miguel Cintra (medium-age Vieira) and Lima Duarte (old Vieira). Ricardo Trepa is not an actor, and doesn't even make an effort to act anything at all: he's just the director's grandson saying lines he was told to memorize. "His" Vieira is absolutely unexpressive and boring. Next comes Luis Miguel Cintra who isn't an actor aswell but rather an oratorian. I can't remember when was the last time he played a dialogue but I'm sure the Berlin Wall was still up at the time. Cintra plays his usual character as in every movie he's in: Luis Miguel Cintra Declaiming. Time after time, another 20 minute monologue of Cintra staring at the camera or with his eyes fixed somewhere on the wall behind the crew. He's always the same. What's the point of putting him declaiming Padre Antonio Vieira? Give him the phone book to read and the audience will be as thrilled. Finally comes the sole positive feature of this movie: Lima Duarte, an absolutely brilliant actor from Brazil. His acting is outstanding, overwhelming. But then again, it's completely illogical that it's only when Padre Antonio Vieira gets old that he acquires a dramatic and energetic personality. And why this is so? Because by that time the audience realizes that Mr Oliveira didn't direct any acting at all, he just handed the script to the actors and told them to say whatever it's written there. Luckily, Lima Duarte is a five-star actor and did what he was told to do the best way he could. It's because of his professionalism, of his effort to get some decent acting amongst this cinematographical disaster I give this movie 1/10.

I will not give Mr Manoel de Oliveira another chance of impressing me to the point of not regretting having bought the ticket and entered the theater. I was really angry and outraged when this film ended, specially because of the way it wasted what could have been a very good movie. A disappointment to say the least. I will not watch another movie from Manoel de Oliveira for as long as I live.

Oliveira at his "best"

[zemotalopes · 23 July 2004]

Palavra e Utopia? what can i say?..it's Oliveira as His Best, static, no action, boring, all of that multiplied by 10000.

I can only think of two good films by Oliveira; "Anikí-Bobó"a, one of the best films made in the 40's in europe, and i think, the best in Portugal ever,and(if you really are a Oliveira fan) "Vale Abraão" Starring like in all the Oliveira's films in the last 15 years the fantastic Leonor Silveira.

I, like most of the portuguese population can't understand any logical reason for the success Olíveira's films have, amongst the cinema community(movie makers, festival organizers, critics etc), nor any reason for the production of his films, to be subsidized by the government(all of them), there are dozens of movie makers in portugual that have to wait years to get a film done, some of them, are brilliant, Oliveira, gets all the help, and honestly, he does not deserve any.

When I went to see this movie, I almost fell asleep.

[Mykas0 · 1/10 · 8 June 2006]

While many may state Manoel de Oliveira to be one of the leading Portuguese directors nowadays, this movie is simply boring.

While it actually manages to tell the story of Father Antonio Vieira, it does such task in a way that most of the audience will be sleeping in their chairs at the end of the session, with such a lack of action and interest.

Most of the movie can actually be simplified in a single phrase, "voices while seeing a certain static scenario", and that's certainly all you can hope to get from this movie.

I have to admit that containing some important Portuguese and Brazilian actors you could be expecting an interesting movie, but their actions in the actual content and story are certainly minimized when you see such an horrible (and boring) content in the screen.