The Portuguese Nun October 8, 2010

2009 Portugal/France.
Directed by Eugène Green With Leonor Baldaque, Beatriz Batarda, Eugène Green

Screens again Oct. 9 @ 9pm

The idiosyncratically unique style of American expat Eugène Green is as celebrated as it is elusive. Green’s films enjoyed a few U.S. retrospectives in 2005 and are enthusiastically received by festivals, critics and fans—who consider him one of European cinema’s most distinctive voices—yet his work remains unreleased on DVD and virtually unseen in this country. The Portuguese Nun follows Parisian actress Julie (played by Portuguese actress and de Oliveira regular Leonor Baldaque) as she explores Lisbon, where she is on location for a film.

Green’s distinctive formal play and transcendent poetry give us characters who speak to one another but gaze directly at the camera, and the narrative pauses twice for full fado performances. Rather than alienating, these devices—combined with Baldaque’s luminous performance—produce an unconventionally moving meditation on yearning, destiny and spirituality catalyzed by Julie’s profound encounters with an orphaned boy and the young nun of the film’s title.

Official Website: https://artsemerson.org/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=DF102835-7D99-45BB-B0E6-1D8049EE27DD