Manoel de Oliveira started his career with the excellent "Aniki Bóbó", but then went on to do dozens of experimental movies that, for the most part, were failed efforts at a philosophical reflection. This is an exception. Here, Oliveira mixes quotes from Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, the Bible and the Portuguese José Régio and puts them in the mouths of people that live in a psychiatric hospital. The result is a reflection on morality, religion and Europe, which is sometimes serious, sometimes provocative, and sometimes comedic.
I have to admit that, not being familiar with the works cited, a lot of references were probably lost on me. But, then again, a script should be good enough to stand on its own and not require people to read thousands of pages of books to understand it. My first criticism is, therefore, the difficulty of understanding just exactly what is going on. Often, I found that there were some beautiful images and great lines, but that I couldn't figure out what the message was supposed to be.
The acting is good enough to make this a good movie and far superior to the normal in Oliveira's movies. Miguel Guilherme is great as always, as is Maria de Medeiros, and it is delightful to see the master of comedy Manuel Viegas play the cynical philosopher (Nietzsche), a role that fits him perfectly. Maria João Pires, one of the world's best pianists, also makes an apparition here, mostly to play the piano, and holds her own very well. Some members of the cast are just so so, but none are bad, which is not usual in an Oliveira movie. Still, I have to point out the cast as a second source of criticism, as sometimes it stands in the way of the story (most notably, in the story of Adam and Eve).
The movie comes very close to being excellent but comes short due to the failings I've mentioned. All in all, a movie recommended for those who like philosophical and/or experimental movies. Just don't ask me what the relationship of the story with Dante's "Divine Comedy" because I haven't a clue.
