Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX
2
00:00:06,452 --> 00:00:10,160
VISIT
OR MEMORIES AND CONFESSIONS
3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
4
00:00:26,826 --> 00:00:29,344
The Minister for Culture,
Dr. Lucas Pires,
5
00:00:29,368 --> 00:00:31,469
and Instituto Português de Cinema
6
00:00:31,493 --> 00:00:34,969
granted me a subsidy in 1981
for this film,
7
00:00:34,993 --> 00:00:38,969
which is called
"Visit, or Memories and Confessions".
8
00:00:38,993 --> 00:00:44,052
The dialogues for "Visit"
are by the writer Agustina Bessa-Luís,
9
00:00:44,076 --> 00:00:47,927
who generously dedicated them
to my wife, Maria Isabel,
10
00:00:47,951 --> 00:00:50,636
and myself, Manoel de Oliveira.
11
00:00:50,660 --> 00:00:54,094
The production
is by Cineastas Associados,
12
00:00:54,118 --> 00:00:56,094
a cooperative I belong to.
13
00:00:56,118 --> 00:00:59,094
It's a film by Manoel de Oliveira
about Manoel de Oliveira,
14
00:00:59,118 --> 00:01:01,136
on the subject of a house.
15
00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,511
It's my film about myself.
16
00:01:03,535 --> 00:01:07,802
Maybe I shouldn't make a film like this,
but it's done.
17
00:01:07,826 --> 00:01:10,344
The director of production
was Manuel Guanilho,
18
00:01:10,368 --> 00:01:12,801
and the director of photography
was Elso Roque.
19
00:01:12,825 --> 00:01:18,469
The soundtrack contains passages
from Piano Concerto no. 4 by Beethoven.
20
00:01:18,493 --> 00:01:21,844
The sound is by Joaquim Pinto
and Vasco Pimentel.
21
00:01:21,868 --> 00:01:25,761
The voices are by Teresa Madruga
and Diogo Dória.
22
00:01:25,785 --> 00:01:29,219
The sound was mixed
by Jean-Paul Loublier.
23
00:01:29,243 --> 00:01:33,535
Júlia Buisel was continuity girl,
and Ana Luísa helped me with editing.
24
00:01:34,618 --> 00:01:37,261
The production assistant
was José Manuel,
25
00:01:37,285 --> 00:01:41,720
and the decor was by
Maria Isabel and Manuel Casimiro.
26
00:01:41,744 --> 00:01:45,511
Alexandre Santos, Emílio Castro
and Mário de Oliveira
27
00:01:45,535 --> 00:01:48,261
were the cameramen.
28
00:01:48,285 --> 00:01:51,285
I dedicate this film to Maria Isabel,
my wife.
29
00:01:57,452 --> 00:02:00,177
Are you sure it's this house?
30
00:02:00,201 --> 00:02:03,761
I've only been here at night,
but I remember the trees.
31
00:02:03,785 --> 00:02:05,868
And the upstairs window with the light.
32
00:02:09,076 --> 00:02:10,553
The trees are there.
33
00:02:10,577 --> 00:02:13,909
But there's no way to tell which window
at this time of day.
34
00:02:44,201 --> 00:02:46,094
Look at that tree.
35
00:02:46,118 --> 00:02:49,261
Look at the blue it stands out against.
36
00:02:49,285 --> 00:02:53,469
The breathing of the leaves
and the veins the sap flows in.
37
00:02:53,493 --> 00:02:57,201
And the unfathomable mystery it grows in,
between heaven and earth.
38
00:02:59,744 --> 00:03:02,261
All of a sudden, by an effort of will,
39
00:03:02,285 --> 00:03:04,802
I understand how unique its nature is.
40
00:03:04,826 --> 00:03:08,052
Maybe I can speak to it and get a reply.
41
00:03:08,076 --> 00:03:10,094
We came to say thanks for a dinner...
42
00:03:10,118 --> 00:03:14,052
...and for a little conversation
with a lovely couple.
43
00:03:14,076 --> 00:03:15,761
A man and a woman,
44
00:03:15,785 --> 00:03:19,136
well dressed, good natured.
45
00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,386
They weren't just
a trick of my imagination,
46
00:03:22,410 --> 00:03:24,802
they were realer than this tree
that I understand,
47
00:03:24,826 --> 00:03:28,285
that I know swaps signals
with the stars and the rest of the world.
48
00:03:30,951 --> 00:03:36,469
That mass of leaves, as big
as a wave of glass, is a magnolia.
49
00:03:36,493 --> 00:03:38,410
It has a single flower, up there.
50
00:03:39,452 --> 00:03:41,511
You see it?
51
00:03:41,535 --> 00:03:43,844
It flowers twice.
52
00:03:43,868 --> 00:03:47,035
First a rapid blossoming,
covered in flowers.
53
00:03:48,951 --> 00:03:52,035
Then, this rare star of maturity.
54
00:04:07,410 --> 00:04:11,035
And what about this silver pine
that looks like a Javanese dancing girl?
55
00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:48,386
The palm tree is the gatekeeper.
56
00:04:48,410 --> 00:04:52,303
It looks surly and indifferent,
57
00:04:52,327 --> 00:04:54,160
like all gatekeepers do.
58
00:05:02,825 --> 00:05:05,428
I've knocked twice and nobody comes.
59
00:05:05,452 --> 00:05:08,219
There's nobody here,
there never was.
60
00:05:08,243 --> 00:05:10,160
It was all in our minds.
61
00:05:28,951 --> 00:05:30,844
The door's open.
62
00:05:30,868 --> 00:05:32,285
No, don't go in.
63
00:05:33,868 --> 00:05:37,219
The door opened on its own,
it wasn't open before.
64
00:05:37,243 --> 00:05:41,386
It's what remains of the heartwood
in the consciousness of the tree...
65
00:05:41,410 --> 00:05:43,678
...that made it open.
66
00:05:43,702 --> 00:05:46,844
You're mad. Quite mad.
67
00:05:46,868 --> 00:05:49,452
We better leave and phone later.
68
00:06:20,285 --> 00:06:21,553
No.
69
00:06:21,577 --> 00:06:24,993
I entered the world of connections
that lie below words.
70
00:06:26,493 --> 00:06:30,761
We are surrounded by creatures
that move on the threshold of language,
71
00:06:30,785 --> 00:06:32,368
but do not reach us.
72
00:07:43,410 --> 00:07:47,636
This living room...
I don't remember being here.
73
00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:51,553
If I'd been here
I'd remember this row of windows.
74
00:07:51,577 --> 00:07:54,118
It's like a train,
motionless on the steppe.
75
00:07:55,410 --> 00:07:59,136
- What train?
- The trans-Siberian, of course.
76
00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,969
I swear it's like the trans-Siberian.
77
00:08:01,993 --> 00:08:03,909
The trans-Siberian's finished.
78
00:08:58,660 --> 00:09:01,720
At sea, all the storms and tribulations,
79
00:09:01,744 --> 00:09:04,927
when death seems ready to take our life.
80
00:09:04,951 --> 00:09:08,094
On land, all the treachery and strife,
81
00:09:08,118 --> 00:09:11,136
all the misery and deprivation.
82
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,785
Moral of the story -
steer clear of both land and sea.
83
00:09:35,452 --> 00:09:38,344
I once read something that went:
84
00:09:38,368 --> 00:09:43,219
"Every year, a man should take refuge
in smaller and smaller cells,
85
00:09:43,243 --> 00:09:47,678
until he can slip through the smallest
cell of all, like a thread of silver."
86
00:09:47,702 --> 00:09:49,744
A thread to make filigree with.
87
00:09:54,826 --> 00:09:59,452
Without change to keep it fresh,
the soul grows blind to sky and earth.
88
00:10:01,035 --> 00:10:04,410
We can change seats, at least.
Or newspapers, now and again.
89
00:10:29,195 --> 00:10:32,671
These stairs have a landing
very close to the first floor.
90
00:10:32,695 --> 00:10:34,504
What does it mean?
91
00:10:34,528 --> 00:10:36,987
That rest is not a pressing matter.
92
00:10:38,903 --> 00:10:41,254
Is nobody home?
93
00:10:41,278 --> 00:10:42,528
We're friends.
94
00:10:45,945 --> 00:10:50,235
The house is empty and to a certain point
I don't trust it.
95
00:10:51,941 --> 00:10:55,583
A house is a thing that allows me
to see eye to eye with another person,
96
00:10:55,607 --> 00:10:57,625
...and nothing more.
97
00:10:57,649 --> 00:10:59,541
I'm scared.
98
00:10:59,565 --> 00:11:01,649
I'm not staying around here.
99
00:11:03,108 --> 00:11:07,857
The house, itself, as an object,
doesn't help to keep you alive.
100
00:11:09,024 --> 00:11:12,334
Every window is an eye which rests
on the face of eternity,
101
00:11:12,358 --> 00:11:14,792
...but a vacant eye.
102
00:11:14,816 --> 00:11:16,541
I don't like this.
103
00:11:16,565 --> 00:11:18,732
Let's go out and call again.
104
00:11:22,441 --> 00:11:26,708
You say that, woman,
because you're led by your feelings.
105
00:11:26,732 --> 00:11:31,292
Your feelings go with you,
but they're not a vital factor.
106
00:11:31,316 --> 00:11:33,583
This must be the master bedroom.
107
00:11:33,607 --> 00:11:36,358
But seriously, let's go.
108
00:11:37,774 --> 00:11:40,417
Look how many portraits!
109
00:11:40,441 --> 00:11:42,625
I don't recognize anyone.
110
00:11:42,649 --> 00:11:44,583
Do you see anyone you know?
111
00:11:44,607 --> 00:11:46,583
No.
112
00:11:46,607 --> 00:11:49,625
But portraits are never real.
113
00:11:49,649 --> 00:11:55,292
People should have their portraits taken
like flowers do, after a storm.
114
00:11:55,316 --> 00:11:58,774
That's when they're most beautiful,
after they've suffered.
115
00:12:00,024 --> 00:12:04,024
These might be our friends,
at a different age.
116
00:12:05,274 --> 00:12:09,209
Age fills us out
from the center of our lives.
117
00:12:09,233 --> 00:12:12,167
We carry every age inside us -
118
00:12:12,191 --> 00:12:16,042
at six, when we say goodbye
to the kingdom of our infancy,
119
00:12:16,066 --> 00:12:19,000
at 20, when we're gods,
120
00:12:19,024 --> 00:12:23,708
at 40, when we've learned
or we haven't to wait for divinity.
121
00:12:23,732 --> 00:12:28,292
Waiting for divinity is one of the
four realms of the places we inhabit.
122
00:12:28,316 --> 00:12:30,167
We live everywhere,
123
00:12:30,191 --> 00:12:34,042
but we only live where the four realms
of the human edifice meet.
124
00:12:34,066 --> 00:12:36,959
Four realms... What are they?
125
00:12:36,983 --> 00:12:38,667
Saving the world,
126
00:12:38,691 --> 00:12:40,792
accepting heaven,
127
00:12:40,816 --> 00:12:42,959
awaiting the divine,
128
00:12:42,983 --> 00:12:44,607
guiding men.
129
00:12:47,481 --> 00:12:49,941
Without them a house is not a home.
130
00:12:51,024 --> 00:12:54,042
So that's why
there's a housing crisis!
131
00:12:54,066 --> 00:12:56,149
Precisely, my dear lady.
132
00:12:57,649 --> 00:12:59,292
Did you hear that?
133
00:12:59,316 --> 00:13:01,524
There's someone downstairs...
134
00:13:05,899 --> 00:13:08,792
I am Manoel de Oliveira,
135
00:13:08,816 --> 00:13:12,750
a director of cinematographic films.
136
00:13:12,774 --> 00:13:17,857
My full name
is Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira.
137
00:13:20,816 --> 00:13:24,108
It's usually sitting here
at this table...
138
00:13:25,524 --> 00:13:28,816
...that I write the treatments
for my films.
139
00:13:31,066 --> 00:13:33,400
Cinema is my passion...
140
00:13:34,732 --> 00:13:40,607
and I've always sacrificed everything
so I could make my films.
141
00:13:42,774 --> 00:13:44,376
Nonetheless,
142
00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,084
other pursuits...
143
00:13:47,108 --> 00:13:49,941
...have shared my attentions.
144
00:14:00,649 --> 00:14:03,066
Especially agriculture,
145
00:14:04,899 --> 00:14:10,358
and I've also always liked things
to do with architecture.
146
00:14:15,481 --> 00:14:19,750
This is the house
where I've lived since 1942,
147
00:14:19,774 --> 00:14:24,481
after marrying my wife,
Maria Isabel.
148
00:14:26,482 --> 00:14:30,899
The architect who designed the house
was called José Porto.
149
00:14:32,024 --> 00:14:35,583
He was a follower
of the leading French architects...
150
00:14:35,607 --> 00:14:38,358
...and studied in Paris.
151
00:14:40,066 --> 00:14:43,125
The house has a certain mystique...
152
00:14:43,149 --> 00:14:45,316
...and is very representative...
153
00:14:46,607 --> 00:14:49,983
...of a certain kind
of 1930s architecture.
154
00:14:52,481 --> 00:14:57,833
I've made various attempts
to get the municipal council of Porto...
155
00:14:57,857 --> 00:15:00,274
...to buy it and preserve it,
156
00:15:01,358 --> 00:15:04,274
putting it to some suitable use.
157
00:15:05,941 --> 00:15:09,625
We thought about
a small museum of numismatics...
158
00:15:09,649 --> 00:15:12,750
...among other things.
159
00:15:12,774 --> 00:15:16,899
I've waited for a solution since 1975,
160
00:15:18,816 --> 00:15:22,857
but no favorable decision
has ever been reached.
161
00:15:23,899 --> 00:15:27,583
It's now been sold to a private buyer.
162
00:15:27,607 --> 00:15:30,167
I couldn't wait any longer.
163
00:15:30,191 --> 00:15:34,691
The house was pledged as security,
at risk of going up for auction.
164
00:15:36,316 --> 00:15:39,233
I was forced to sell it
to pay off debts.
165
00:15:40,649 --> 00:15:44,482
Before that, Doctor Rui Luís Gomes,
166
00:15:45,649 --> 00:15:49,167
then-rector of the University of Porto,
167
00:15:49,191 --> 00:15:54,458
made a number of overtures
with a view to integrating my house...
168
00:15:54,482 --> 00:15:58,667
...in the cultural orbit
of the University of Porto.
169
00:15:58,691 --> 00:16:01,400
But it came to nothing.
170
00:16:02,524 --> 00:16:05,125
It's no longer mine,
171
00:16:05,149 --> 00:16:06,607
it has another owner...
172
00:16:08,191 --> 00:16:10,066
...to get used to.
173
00:16:11,649 --> 00:16:15,625
My spirit has lived in this house
for nearly forty years.
174
00:16:15,649 --> 00:16:17,917
It helped design it,
175
00:16:17,941 --> 00:16:21,417
build it, furnish it.
176
00:16:21,441 --> 00:16:24,334
Now it's rather decrepit,
177
00:16:24,358 --> 00:16:30,250
it's yellowed and wrinkled
like the autumn leaves.
178
00:16:30,274 --> 00:16:33,167
It's known joy and sadness,
179
00:16:33,191 --> 00:16:36,481
it's seen two generations
born and grown -
180
00:16:37,941 --> 00:16:40,482
my children's, and my grandchildren's.
181
00:16:45,649 --> 00:16:49,066
I'm going to show you
some memories from those times.
182
00:18:55,233 --> 00:19:00,792
So, this is the house
where I lived in my prime.
183
00:19:00,816 --> 00:19:04,774
It was the strongest, realest phase
of my life,
184
00:19:06,481 --> 00:19:11,000
spent with my wife
and my children.
185
00:19:11,024 --> 00:19:16,541
In this house I made the longest journey
of my life:
186
00:19:16,565 --> 00:19:17,941
40 years.
187
00:19:19,441 --> 00:19:22,376
There were two prolonged illnesses -
188
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,000
those of my wife's aunt and uncle
(her godparents),
189
00:19:25,024 --> 00:19:29,084
Cacilda Carvalhais
and José Manuel Cardoso.
190
00:19:29,108 --> 00:19:33,125
There was one death:
José Manuel Cardoso.
191
00:19:33,149 --> 00:19:38,042
It was they who raised Maria Isabel
after her mother died,
192
00:19:38,066 --> 00:19:41,376
when Maria Isabel was two months old.
193
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,024
There was one wedding,
194
00:19:44,774 --> 00:19:47,857
a simple but very happy celebration -
195
00:19:49,482 --> 00:19:52,875
the wedding of my daughter,
Adelaide Maria.
196
00:19:52,899 --> 00:19:57,458
And there have been family celebrations
and much joy,
197
00:19:57,482 --> 00:20:02,167
side by side with sadder moments,
times of grief...
198
00:20:02,191 --> 00:20:04,458
...and enormous difficulty.
199
00:20:04,482 --> 00:20:08,084
Did you hear it now?
There's someone downstairs...
200
00:20:08,108 --> 00:20:10,583
There's no one downstairs now.
201
00:20:10,607 --> 00:20:14,108
It's the noises of the house,
or from outside.
202
00:20:23,191 --> 00:20:25,250
This is the bedroom.
203
00:20:25,274 --> 00:20:28,750
It was built so the things of the present
would appear in it.
204
00:20:28,774 --> 00:20:31,708
Don't say those things.
I get nervous.
205
00:20:31,732 --> 00:20:35,457
The present things
are the trees that surround us.
206
00:20:35,481 --> 00:20:38,857
They even look threatening,
like they're walking on their own feet.
207
00:20:40,274 --> 00:20:43,625
The tree of birth,
which is the cradle,
208
00:20:43,649 --> 00:20:46,959
the tree of death, which is the coffin.
209
00:20:46,983 --> 00:20:49,708
These are the present things.
210
00:20:49,732 --> 00:20:53,959
They should appear
in the shape of a marital bedroom.
211
00:20:53,983 --> 00:20:55,875
What's this pillar doing here?
212
00:20:55,899 --> 00:20:58,334
It's not a pillar, it's a mast.
213
00:20:58,358 --> 00:21:02,417
The technical side of architecture
is all about making this or that appear...
214
00:21:02,441 --> 00:21:04,417
...in the midst of present things.
215
00:21:04,441 --> 00:21:06,250
It's the mast of a ship.
216
00:21:06,274 --> 00:21:09,774
It relates a man to his intimate being,
his horizon.
217
00:21:21,685 --> 00:21:24,351
Look. This house is a ship.
218
00:21:33,351 --> 00:21:36,643
Verandas and terraces
are bridges and decks.
219
00:21:41,852 --> 00:21:44,726
The white cabins
open onto the gangway.
220
00:22:27,351 --> 00:22:30,893
And the sea symbolized
by the candelabra-pine down there.
221
00:22:34,977 --> 00:22:38,102
And the bay of lawn
where you can float in the May sunshine.
222
00:22:40,351 --> 00:22:44,036
In the hall - if you noticed -
the collection of cowries and conches,
223
00:22:44,060 --> 00:22:47,286
like trophies from enormous voyages,
224
00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:51,143
...and an angel sleeping down there,
gnawed by the salt water.
225
00:23:15,310 --> 00:23:18,036
Our gatekeeper has grown to a height.
226
00:23:18,060 --> 00:23:21,327
His long hair beats on the window pane
like a bunch of keys...
227
00:23:21,351 --> 00:23:22,869
...and tells us,
228
00:23:22,893 --> 00:23:25,786
"It's time. It's time."
229
00:23:25,810 --> 00:23:27,786
It's time for what?
230
00:23:27,810 --> 00:23:31,452
For the gatekeeper
it's always time... to go.
231
00:23:31,476 --> 00:23:33,702
To close the doors.
232
00:23:33,726 --> 00:23:36,619
Even St. Peter dreams
of closing the gates of heaven,
233
00:23:36,643 --> 00:23:37,893
and switching off the light.
234
00:23:39,893 --> 00:23:42,828
You don't see anything
in a simple way.
235
00:23:42,852 --> 00:23:44,269
I do. Everything.
236
00:23:45,310 --> 00:23:47,953
You remember that house
on the road to Guarda,
237
00:23:47,977 --> 00:23:49,326
built up against a rock?
238
00:23:49,350 --> 00:23:53,410
How am I supposed to remember
what's at the side of a horrible road!?
239
00:23:53,434 --> 00:23:57,994
Man's relationship with place
was never so well observed.
240
00:23:58,018 --> 00:24:01,953
Two blind walls
that resist the harshest winds.
241
00:24:01,977 --> 00:24:06,102
The windows that fit the gaze,
where the muzzle of a rifle can rest.
242
00:24:07,476 --> 00:24:11,452
It's the half-open door,
plain and somber...
243
00:24:11,476 --> 00:24:14,536
- ...waiting for the visit of a god.
- Waiting for nothing.
244
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,327
People so poor
neither hope nor fear.
245
00:24:17,351 --> 00:24:18,744
Who does that leave?
246
00:24:18,768 --> 00:24:21,828
Just a gipsy woman with a black dog
and her child on her flank.
247
00:24:21,852 --> 00:24:23,350
The things you think of!
248
00:24:24,518 --> 00:24:28,953
This house just became complete,
when you said "you".
249
00:24:28,977 --> 00:24:31,161
The house revealed itself in that word.
250
00:24:31,185 --> 00:24:32,953
It's nice to think about.
251
00:24:32,977 --> 00:24:35,744
I don't know if it's nice
to say what you're saying.
252
00:24:35,768 --> 00:24:39,828
At least we're alone here,
otherwise it must look strange.
253
00:24:39,852 --> 00:24:43,560
And society is less and less tolerant
of strangers.
254
00:24:45,143 --> 00:24:48,161
The garden looks strange too,
seen from up here.
255
00:24:48,185 --> 00:24:50,869
We should look at trees
in a different way.
256
00:24:50,893 --> 00:24:53,245
From below, like Newton.
257
00:24:53,269 --> 00:24:56,577
Or as if we were seeing what they're for
or what they produce.
258
00:24:56,601 --> 00:24:58,078
It isn't that.
259
00:24:58,102 --> 00:24:59,702
Or maybe it is.
260
00:24:59,726 --> 00:25:02,994
What a conversation to be having
at six in the evening in an empty house!
261
00:25:03,018 --> 00:25:06,327
- It isn't empty at all.
- You mean the furniture and things?
262
00:25:06,351 --> 00:25:09,661
I mean everything
that fills this place.
263
00:25:09,685 --> 00:25:11,702
- Where are you going?
- I was going downstairs.
264
00:25:11,726 --> 00:25:14,577
But I'm afraid.
I saw a dog in the garden.
265
00:25:14,601 --> 00:25:17,536
- I didn't see any dog.
- It was running, almost crawling.
266
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,161
It looked like one of those dogs
that are trained to attack.
267
00:25:20,185 --> 00:25:23,036
They let people in
then don't let them out again.
268
00:25:23,060 --> 00:25:26,369
Don't be afraid.
And there's no dog.
269
00:25:26,393 --> 00:25:27,911
It's your imagination.
270
00:25:27,935 --> 00:25:29,744
I could do with some tea.
271
00:25:29,768 --> 00:25:32,245
Green tea,
like my grandfather drank.
272
00:25:32,269 --> 00:25:33,786
The leaves opened slowly,
273
00:25:33,810 --> 00:25:37,327
like parchments
with a testament written on them.
274
00:25:37,351 --> 00:25:39,994
Your grandfather's testament
would fit on a tealeaf.
275
00:25:40,018 --> 00:25:41,326
Oh funny!
276
00:25:41,350 --> 00:25:43,327
He wasn't rich, but he was refined,
277
00:25:43,351 --> 00:25:45,351
educated and so on.
278
00:25:46,518 --> 00:25:48,494
What if I served the tea?
279
00:25:48,518 --> 00:25:51,060
Maybe the dog will go away
in the meantime.
280
00:25:55,768 --> 00:25:58,911
Imagine if the owners came in
and found us here,
281
00:25:58,935 --> 00:26:00,994
in the nether regions of the house,
282
00:26:01,018 --> 00:26:05,536
out of the flow of events,
like thieves or preachers.
283
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,286
I'm scared again.
284
00:26:07,310 --> 00:26:09,911
I'd forgotten how
we'd got the wrong house.
285
00:26:09,935 --> 00:26:12,102
The fact is, I don't recognize it.
286
00:27:02,685 --> 00:27:05,078
This settee wasn't here.
287
00:27:05,102 --> 00:27:08,286
There's nothing changes places more
than a settee.
288
00:27:08,310 --> 00:27:11,036
Especially when
it's a wooden settee.
289
00:27:11,060 --> 00:27:14,286
I don't know why
they don't hold séances with settees,
290
00:27:14,310 --> 00:27:16,203
instead of pedestal tables.
291
00:27:16,227 --> 00:27:20,036
That's it! Now I'm afraid
in a different way.
292
00:27:20,060 --> 00:27:23,078
- Did you hear the door?
- What about the door?
293
00:27:23,102 --> 00:27:25,476
It slammed. No, it opened.
294
00:27:29,601 --> 00:27:31,185
It wasn't the front door.
295
00:27:36,601 --> 00:27:40,643
This, as I said, is the house
I lived in for forty years...
296
00:27:42,852 --> 00:27:47,119
...and which I'm now obliged to leave.
297
00:27:47,143 --> 00:27:50,036
I'm 73 years old,
298
00:27:50,060 --> 00:27:53,286
this isn't the house I was born in.
299
00:27:53,310 --> 00:27:55,661
The house I was born in...
300
00:27:55,685 --> 00:27:59,685
...my father had it built in 1904.
301
00:28:00,726 --> 00:28:03,185
I was born in 1908.
302
00:28:09,393 --> 00:28:13,434
Here's a little film I made to show you.
303
00:28:20,810 --> 00:28:24,953
My father and my mother
with their first child,
304
00:28:24,977 --> 00:28:27,369
my brother Francisco.
305
00:28:27,393 --> 00:28:29,078
It was around this time...
306
00:28:29,102 --> 00:28:33,161
...that my father built the house
I would be born in.
307
00:28:33,185 --> 00:28:36,203
He bought a piece of land
on quite high ground...
308
00:28:36,227 --> 00:28:39,494
...that was known as the Ant Hill.
309
00:28:39,518 --> 00:28:44,702
At that time, my father
had the idea of setting up
310
00:28:44,726 --> 00:28:47,161
a haberdashery factory
beside the house.
311
00:28:47,185 --> 00:28:52,494
He found a partner
to manage the technical side of things.
312
00:28:52,518 --> 00:28:55,410
This man's name was Fortuna,
313
00:28:55,434 --> 00:28:59,494
and he soon revealed
a hot-headed and impulsive character.
314
00:28:59,518 --> 00:29:03,410
When things went badly for him
when he was adjusting the machinery,
315
00:29:03,434 --> 00:29:07,953
he'd strike them desperately
with a hammer or another tool.
316
00:29:07,977 --> 00:29:12,869
That was when they agreed,
given the temperament of Fortuna,
317
00:29:12,893 --> 00:29:17,828
on conditions for one of them to exit
the company, the other remaining.
318
00:29:17,852 --> 00:29:21,494
So they put the matter to a vote
among the employees,
319
00:29:21,518 --> 00:29:23,828
who decided in favor of my father.
320
00:29:23,852 --> 00:29:27,744
And so the firm changed name
from Fortuna to Oliveira,
321
00:29:27,768 --> 00:29:30,994
or more precisely,
Francisco José de Oliveira...
322
00:29:31,018 --> 00:29:35,310
...and at a later point
Francisco José de Oliveira & Sons.
323
00:29:37,227 --> 00:29:41,326
I spent my childhood
in the company of my brothers,
324
00:29:41,350 --> 00:29:43,911
especially my brother Casimiro,
325
00:29:43,935 --> 00:29:47,102
who was nearly the same age as me.
326
00:29:53,351 --> 00:29:57,619
So my childhood was spent
in the environment of the factory,
327
00:29:57,643 --> 00:30:02,286
amid much affection
from family and workforce,
328
00:30:02,310 --> 00:30:04,434
who were nearly all women.
329
00:30:06,102 --> 00:30:12,036
The supervisors and the office people
were very republican.
330
00:30:12,060 --> 00:30:14,810
Vaz, Mandim and Reinaldo...
331
00:30:17,351 --> 00:30:21,185
...were the most fervent, shall we say.
332
00:30:22,310 --> 00:30:27,036
The manager of the dye shop, Carvalho,
was illiterate...
333
00:30:27,060 --> 00:30:30,869
...but a man of great integrity.
334
00:30:30,893 --> 00:30:33,828
As he got older,
he began to lose his memory...
335
00:30:33,852 --> 00:30:37,369
...and started mixing up the dyes...
336
00:30:37,393 --> 00:30:40,326
...whose recipes he knew by heart.
337
00:30:40,350 --> 00:30:42,245
He was a carbonário.
338
00:30:42,269 --> 00:30:47,369
When he died, they were taking
his coffin from his home to the church...
339
00:30:47,393 --> 00:30:50,119
...and when it came the turn...
340
00:30:50,143 --> 00:30:54,494
...of his fellow republicans
to carry the coffin...
341
00:30:54,518 --> 00:30:57,350
...they turned the coffin around...
342
00:30:58,768 --> 00:31:02,203
...as a protest against his family,
343
00:31:02,227 --> 00:31:06,350
which wanted, against the dead man's
will, to take him to the church.
344
00:31:08,351 --> 00:31:12,410
Then they placed the coffin on the
ground and abandoned the cortège...
345
00:31:12,434 --> 00:31:17,786
...which continued on its way,
the way the family wanted.
346
00:31:17,810 --> 00:31:19,494
My brothers and I,
347
00:31:19,518 --> 00:31:24,245
who followed the cortège
to the cemetery,
348
00:31:24,269 --> 00:31:25,643
did not interfere.
349
00:31:27,977 --> 00:31:30,327
I loved my father...
350
00:31:30,351 --> 00:31:33,702
...and had great admiration for him.
351
00:31:33,726 --> 00:31:37,161
He was good-natured
and understanding,
352
00:31:37,185 --> 00:31:39,661
an man with a eye for the future.
353
00:31:39,685 --> 00:31:42,185
He was a pioneer in his time.
354
00:31:43,227 --> 00:31:48,869
He started new industries in the country,
and he did it in exemplary fashion.
355
00:31:48,893 --> 00:31:54,245
He came through many difficulties
and suffered enormous setbacks,
356
00:31:54,269 --> 00:31:57,643
but every one of his ventures
he saw through to completion.
357
00:31:58,810 --> 00:32:02,577
Here, on a site beside
the land owned by my grandfather,
358
00:32:02,601 --> 00:32:08,203
was my father's last great venture,
359
00:32:08,227 --> 00:32:10,786
the last of his life -
360
00:32:10,810 --> 00:32:15,536
the hydroelectric plant
on the waterfall of Ermal,
361
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,018
which today is CHENOP.
362
00:32:26,601 --> 00:32:32,661
This is the house where my father
was born, built by my grandfather.
363
00:32:32,685 --> 00:32:37,327
Here's a family photograph
showing my grandparents,
364
00:32:37,351 --> 00:32:41,911
my father and some
of his thirteen siblings.
365
00:32:41,935 --> 00:32:45,326
Only the oldest son
remained in the paternal home,
366
00:32:45,350 --> 00:32:50,203
together with the youngest,
who owing to meningitis as a child,
367
00:32:50,227 --> 00:32:52,828
was left mentally retarded.
368
00:32:52,852 --> 00:32:56,786
All the others
sought their fortunes away from home
369
00:32:56,810 --> 00:33:01,369
and all led successful lives,
some more than others.
370
00:33:01,393 --> 00:33:02,601
My grandfather.
371
00:33:05,060 --> 00:33:06,661
My grandmother.
372
00:33:06,685 --> 00:33:09,369
My grandmother died suddenly,
373
00:33:09,393 --> 00:33:11,577
at an advanced age,
374
00:33:11,601 --> 00:33:16,102
while getting all her children seated
around the table for supper,
375
00:33:17,185 --> 00:33:20,393
on what was her very last
Christmas Eve.
376
00:33:32,351 --> 00:33:35,410
Let's go. Where did I leave my bag?
377
00:33:35,434 --> 00:33:37,869
I'm going to count the doors.
378
00:33:37,893 --> 00:33:41,577
If there's an even number,
we stay till someone appears,
379
00:33:41,601 --> 00:33:44,286
even if it's just the electricity man.
380
00:33:44,310 --> 00:33:48,245
Let's go. Where did I leave my bag?
381
00:33:48,269 --> 00:33:50,452
It's evening all of a sudden.
382
00:33:50,476 --> 00:33:52,601
Dusk is gathering outside.
383
00:33:53,643 --> 00:33:56,828
It's an unreal time of day, nightfall.
384
00:33:56,852 --> 00:33:59,326
We're neither alive nor dead.
385
00:33:59,350 --> 00:34:03,327
It's the time when we say goodbye,
when we have regrets,
386
00:34:03,351 --> 00:34:06,102
or even forget the spirit of revenge.
387
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,911
A great nostalgia takes hold of us.
388
00:34:16,935 --> 00:34:19,434
It should be beautiful but it isn't.
389
00:34:22,185 --> 00:34:25,227
Isn't it beautiful to forget
the spirit of revenge?
390
00:34:28,227 --> 00:34:30,203
No.
391
00:34:30,227 --> 00:34:32,661
Beautiful would be getting rid of it,
392
00:34:32,685 --> 00:34:36,185
of the spirit of persecution,
of false elevation.
393
00:34:41,726 --> 00:34:44,452
There isn't a speck
of dust in this room.
394
00:34:44,476 --> 00:34:45,828
No.
395
00:34:45,852 --> 00:34:48,410
We can't write our names in the dust.
396
00:34:48,434 --> 00:34:51,119
That makes our visit
a bit of a failure.
397
00:34:51,143 --> 00:34:53,744
We're getting melancholic.
398
00:34:53,768 --> 00:34:57,078
We're getting donnish and over-earnest,
399
00:34:57,102 --> 00:34:59,994
which doesn't suit me,
or you either.
400
00:35:00,018 --> 00:35:02,577
- Did you hear a car?
- No, I didn't.
401
00:35:02,601 --> 00:35:05,810
I'm going to get my bag.
I must have left it upstairs.
402
00:35:08,351 --> 00:35:12,326
These are the photos of my clan.
403
00:35:12,350 --> 00:35:15,786
We'll begin at the weddings.
404
00:35:15,810 --> 00:35:18,643
This is mine with Maria Isabel.
405
00:35:19,810 --> 00:35:22,828
My oldest son's,
Manuel Casimiro,
406
00:35:22,852 --> 00:35:25,286
with his wife Sheena.
407
00:35:25,310 --> 00:35:28,286
They separated later.
408
00:35:28,310 --> 00:35:32,245
This is their son, David.
409
00:35:32,269 --> 00:35:36,410
Now it's the turn
of my son José Manuel,
410
00:35:36,434 --> 00:35:39,452
at his wedding with Maria João.
411
00:35:39,476 --> 00:35:41,494
And here are their children,
412
00:35:41,518 --> 00:35:42,911
Pedro...
413
00:35:42,935 --> 00:35:44,227
...and Francisco.
414
00:35:45,768 --> 00:35:51,452
This is my older daughter
(we'll go in order of age),
415
00:35:51,476 --> 00:35:53,560
Isabel Maria.
416
00:35:54,601 --> 00:35:56,560
And my younger daughter,
417
00:35:58,143 --> 00:35:59,601
Maria Adelaide,
418
00:36:01,143 --> 00:36:03,536
who's married to Jorge.
419
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:05,078
And their children,
420
00:36:05,102 --> 00:36:06,786
Ricardo...
421
00:36:06,810 --> 00:36:08,102
...and Susana.
422
00:36:11,351 --> 00:36:15,310
I was married on 4 December 1940.
423
00:36:51,269 --> 00:36:53,577
What do you think of cinema?
424
00:36:53,601 --> 00:36:59,452
I think cinema is marvellous,
it gets me out of my everyday routine.
425
00:36:59,476 --> 00:37:03,203
As well as painting, which I did
before I married and now my flowers.
426
00:37:03,227 --> 00:37:06,577
Isabel, what does it mean to you
to be married for forty years...
427
00:37:06,601 --> 00:37:08,619
...with a cinema director?
428
00:37:08,643 --> 00:37:10,393
For the first 25 years...
429
00:37:11,434 --> 00:37:13,369
...I tried to help him with everything,
430
00:37:13,393 --> 00:37:18,410
even doing the sound
and continuity in one of his films.
431
00:37:18,434 --> 00:37:20,994
The last years have been a struggle,
432
00:37:21,018 --> 00:37:25,953
as I've been overwhelmed
with the material and family problems...
433
00:37:25,977 --> 00:37:30,036
...while Manoel dedicated himself
entirely to the cinema.
434
00:37:30,060 --> 00:37:33,452
How is your family life...
435
00:37:33,476 --> 00:37:36,494
...with a man like Manoel de Oliveira?
436
00:37:36,518 --> 00:37:39,410
A life of abnegation
and comprehension,
437
00:37:39,434 --> 00:37:42,393
because you can't separate
the artist from the man...
438
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:48,269
...without the person being completely
nullified in their personality.
439
00:39:03,143 --> 00:39:07,286
I love life,
but death doesn't scare me.
440
00:39:07,310 --> 00:39:10,994
What scares me is physical suffering,
441
00:39:11,018 --> 00:39:15,326
which seems far more unjust
than death.
442
00:39:15,350 --> 00:39:16,786
And yet I think
443
00:39:16,810 --> 00:39:21,245
that suffering,
and the idea of death,
444
00:39:21,269 --> 00:39:24,185
make us appreciate life more,
445
00:39:25,393 --> 00:39:29,102
even in its most particular aspects.
446
00:39:32,143 --> 00:39:35,185
For me,
death is not an abstract thing.
447
00:39:36,393 --> 00:39:39,810
I've seen people die
since I was very young,
448
00:39:40,852 --> 00:39:45,726
and I've been in places
where relatives were dying.
449
00:39:48,143 --> 00:39:50,994
I was with my father when he died.
450
00:39:51,018 --> 00:39:57,560
Yet death always leaves me feeling
that it's only a physical thing.
451
00:40:00,685 --> 00:40:04,994
I've felt the presence of the spirit
so clearly...
452
00:40:05,018 --> 00:40:09,935
...that my anguish at the death
of a loved one was minimized.
453
00:40:11,810 --> 00:40:13,619
I love life...
454
00:40:13,643 --> 00:40:18,661
...and I think love, and only love,
455
00:40:18,685 --> 00:40:22,393
can give it its ultimate meaning.
456
00:40:23,685 --> 00:40:27,935
Its fullness and purity.
457
00:40:29,893 --> 00:40:32,726
That word, purity,
458
00:40:34,351 --> 00:40:38,286
is full of meaning for me,
459
00:40:38,310 --> 00:40:41,286
for it embodies aspects...
460
00:40:41,310 --> 00:40:45,536
...that seem to me
to be truly transcendent,
461
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,102
like the idea of God.
462
00:40:49,393 --> 00:40:50,518
Or...
463
00:40:51,601 --> 00:40:54,078
...to put it in a non-religious way,
464
00:40:54,102 --> 00:40:56,410
of the Absolute.
465
00:40:56,434 --> 00:41:00,102
Purity is not a degree of sanctity,
466
00:41:01,351 --> 00:41:06,327
although it can be,
insofar as it reins in the instincts,
467
00:41:06,351 --> 00:41:09,577
the most primary impulses,
468
00:41:09,601 --> 00:41:12,434
and masters and restrains them.
469
00:41:13,810 --> 00:41:17,869
But it's not a degree of sanctity.
470
00:41:17,893 --> 00:41:20,619
It can't be innocence either,
471
00:41:20,643 --> 00:41:23,119
but rather a state of grace...
472
00:41:23,143 --> 00:41:27,018
...that leads us to or brings us nearer
to that Absolute,
473
00:41:28,726 --> 00:41:34,350
a kind of metaphysical salvation,
a cleansing through the spirit,
474
00:41:35,643 --> 00:41:41,018
in the unbidden repudiation
of worldly and bodily temptation.
475
00:41:43,893 --> 00:41:47,369
What I'm trying to say is,
only this state of grace,
476
00:41:47,393 --> 00:41:51,518
this purity, I mean, can save Man.
477
00:41:52,685 --> 00:41:58,102
But it would take the child of purity
to come to the world and wash it clean,
478
00:41:59,185 --> 00:42:02,310
and transmit his purity to men.
479
00:42:09,310 --> 00:42:12,619
Woman is the symbol of virtues -
480
00:42:12,643 --> 00:42:14,245
she is goodness,
481
00:42:14,269 --> 00:42:15,452
love,
482
00:42:15,476 --> 00:42:16,536
mother,
483
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,643
sister, wife.
484
00:42:19,685 --> 00:42:25,494
But she's also the symbol of temptation,
of sin, perdition.
485
00:42:25,518 --> 00:42:28,560
From woman comes
the equilibrium of the world.
486
00:42:29,852 --> 00:42:32,828
In her apparent passivity,
487
00:42:32,852 --> 00:42:34,869
she has the power...
488
00:42:34,893 --> 00:42:39,434
...to destroy or redeem
the destiny of men.
489
00:42:42,227 --> 00:42:47,911
Perversity in women
makes men more quarrelsome.
490
00:42:47,935 --> 00:42:51,935
Virtue, on the contrary, pacifies them.
491
00:42:54,893 --> 00:42:57,953
The actresses in my films
492
00:42:57,977 --> 00:43:02,393
are women who exert
an enormous fascination over me.
493
00:43:04,102 --> 00:43:08,786
Their characters are transfigured
in the reality of the actress -
494
00:43:08,810 --> 00:43:12,852
woman incarnate,
mythical woman of fiction.
495
00:43:14,935 --> 00:43:17,994
Maria Isabel, my wife,
496
00:43:18,018 --> 00:43:20,977
is reality without subterfuge.
497
00:43:22,351 --> 00:43:25,786
I found in her
a companion who was dedicated,
498
00:43:25,810 --> 00:43:28,227
understanding and tolerant.
499
00:43:29,518 --> 00:43:34,078
Her strong character helped me
in all my difficult moments.
500
00:43:34,102 --> 00:43:38,393
The woman who gave me
the best years of my life...
501
00:43:39,768 --> 00:43:41,935
...and my four children.
502
00:43:44,685 --> 00:43:47,326
Some people have talked,
503
00:43:47,350 --> 00:43:52,327
on the subject of my tetralogy
of thwarted loves,
504
00:43:52,351 --> 00:43:54,768
accusing me of being seduced...
505
00:43:56,269 --> 00:43:58,102
...by virginity.
506
00:43:59,227 --> 00:44:01,078
It's true.
507
00:44:01,102 --> 00:44:07,185
Virginity, more than chastity,
exerts a great fascination over me.
508
00:44:08,351 --> 00:44:10,893
It's the enchantment of youthfulness.
509
00:44:11,935 --> 00:44:16,269
The unblemished sprit,
the immaculate newness of the body.
510
00:44:19,434 --> 00:44:24,410
It's enchantment
with tender years while still pure,
511
00:44:24,434 --> 00:44:28,786
of life and potential yet to blossom,
512
00:44:28,810 --> 00:44:32,203
everything without sin or vice.
513
00:44:32,227 --> 00:44:37,203
But virginity is valued in the young,
514
00:44:37,227 --> 00:44:40,203
when it's spontaneous and pure.
515
00:44:40,227 --> 00:44:42,410
I wouldn't say the same...
516
00:44:42,434 --> 00:44:46,245
...when the spirit
grows tainted with age
517
00:44:46,269 --> 00:44:48,185
and the flesh becomes corrupted,
518
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:51,935
and virginity remains.
519
00:44:53,185 --> 00:44:54,476
Unless...
520
00:45:00,310 --> 00:45:04,326
Sanctity is the outcome of an attitude.
521
00:45:04,350 --> 00:45:08,310
The most dignified attitude
man can take.
522
00:45:09,351 --> 00:45:14,036
Without any plausible guarantee
of another life,
523
00:45:14,060 --> 00:45:20,203
this attitude renounces life's pleasures
in goodness to one's neighbor...
524
00:45:20,227 --> 00:45:24,161
...and the improvement of oneself,
525
00:45:24,185 --> 00:45:27,018
with the risk of losing everything.
526
00:45:29,768 --> 00:45:31,828
It's better not to think about that,
527
00:45:31,852 --> 00:45:34,869
because we'll lose
the ability to contemplate.
528
00:45:34,893 --> 00:45:38,994
A house is something from which life
grows and at the same time an obstacle,
529
00:45:39,018 --> 00:45:41,245
because it's a medium
we have to eliminate.
530
00:45:41,269 --> 00:45:43,744
It stops people from coming together,
531
00:45:43,768 --> 00:45:45,869
because it's conceived as a pleasure,
532
00:45:45,893 --> 00:45:48,935
a refuge, a shared experience.
533
00:45:50,310 --> 00:45:52,327
The relationship has to be direct,
534
00:45:52,351 --> 00:45:56,852
with nothing floating or in between,
without values that get in the way.
535
00:45:57,935 --> 00:46:01,036
I'm talking of Man,
the house he lives in...
536
00:46:01,060 --> 00:46:04,434
and the pledge that binds them together
and which must be forgotten.
537
00:46:06,143 --> 00:46:08,286
We need a point of departure,
538
00:46:08,310 --> 00:46:09,786
something else,
539
00:46:09,810 --> 00:46:11,601
the whole world.
540
00:46:13,518 --> 00:46:15,744
The house is us.
541
00:46:15,768 --> 00:46:18,577
The body unfixed
like the ark of the flood,
542
00:46:18,601 --> 00:46:22,350
that bobs on the waves till the dove
returns with an olive branch in its beak.
543
00:46:23,601 --> 00:46:25,661
We are not the house.
544
00:46:25,685 --> 00:46:28,852
The house is the world. Our world.
545
00:46:55,643 --> 00:46:58,536
It's like we're rocking gently.
546
00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:02,119
When it rains, the illusion
that we're at sea is perfect.
547
00:47:02,143 --> 00:47:04,286
I'm sure of it.
548
00:47:04,310 --> 00:47:06,227
The house really is moving.
549
00:47:07,852 --> 00:47:10,619
That ashtray
just slid a little there.
550
00:47:10,643 --> 00:47:12,869
It's raised anchor,
551
00:47:12,893 --> 00:47:16,161
the harbor lights are receding.
552
00:47:16,185 --> 00:47:20,410
I heard you from upstairs.
I thought someone had arrived.
553
00:47:20,434 --> 00:47:23,744
Making myself heard upstairs
is no small talent.
554
00:47:23,768 --> 00:47:24,852
Let's go.
555
00:47:28,143 --> 00:47:31,994
Here I'm projecting a short film...
556
00:47:32,018 --> 00:47:35,810
...I made of Portelinha,
a house in Veiga.
557
00:47:36,935 --> 00:47:39,286
It's a very old property,
558
00:47:39,310 --> 00:47:42,744
which Maria Isabel inherited
from her grandparents...
559
00:47:42,768 --> 00:47:44,893
...and dates from the time
of her great-grandparents.
560
00:47:47,643 --> 00:47:50,227
I've stayed here on several occasions.
561
00:47:58,810 --> 00:48:00,143
The maternal grandfather...
562
00:48:07,102 --> 00:48:10,393
...and grandmother of Maria Isabel.
563
00:48:23,350 --> 00:48:26,078
Her brother Abel as a child,
564
00:48:26,102 --> 00:48:28,410
Maria Isabel as a child,
565
00:48:28,434 --> 00:48:32,560
her mother as a young woman
and her brother António Amadeu.
566
00:48:41,185 --> 00:48:43,810
Maria Isabel as a child again.
567
00:48:47,935 --> 00:48:51,619
Maria Isabel's father, and her mother.
568
00:48:51,643 --> 00:48:57,744
Her aunt and uncle and godparents,
José Manuel and Cacilda, who raised her.
569
00:48:57,768 --> 00:49:01,350
Her father again
in his judge's robes.
570
00:49:10,893 --> 00:49:13,828
We're inside the house of Portelinha,
571
00:49:13,852 --> 00:49:15,869
where I wrote "A Caça"...
572
00:49:15,893 --> 00:49:20,852
...and a few other films I didn't make,
like "Angélica".
573
00:49:22,685 --> 00:49:27,393
I wrote in this corner of the dining room
that also served as a lounge,
574
00:49:28,643 --> 00:49:31,518
and other times on the veranda.
575
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:37,476
I was visited here by many people
from the world of cinema.
576
00:49:38,685 --> 00:49:40,327
They were, firstly,
577
00:49:40,351 --> 00:49:43,036
José Novais Teixeira...
578
00:49:43,060 --> 00:49:45,911
...and his friend André Bazin.
579
00:49:45,935 --> 00:49:48,518
Later, José Vieira Marques,
580
00:49:49,893 --> 00:49:52,560
accompanied by Jean D'Yvoire.
581
00:49:57,810 --> 00:50:03,452
Then, on two occasions,
my old friend the director Paulo Rocha,
582
00:50:03,476 --> 00:50:07,245
on one occasion accompanied
by an English director...
583
00:50:07,269 --> 00:50:10,577
...whose name I think was Douglas.
584
00:50:10,601 --> 00:50:13,577
He was making a film on pollution
585
00:50:13,601 --> 00:50:18,685
and was surprised how pure the air was,
with the vivid, limpid blue of the sky.
586
00:50:20,350 --> 00:50:24,286
Paulo Rocha is the Portuguese director
I rate most highly,
587
00:50:24,310 --> 00:50:28,911
for his refinement
and delicacy of feeling.
588
00:50:28,935 --> 00:50:32,536
Friends visited too -
like Ernesto de Oliveira,
589
00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:34,369
Father João Marques,
590
00:50:34,393 --> 00:50:37,869
and the great poet and writer
José Régio.
591
00:50:37,893 --> 00:50:40,786
And a group of cinema people...
592
00:50:40,810 --> 00:50:44,369
...like Erica and Ulrich Gregor,
593
00:50:44,393 --> 00:50:47,245
Jean Pierre Brossard,
594
00:50:47,269 --> 00:50:48,935
Francisco Linás,
595
00:50:50,060 --> 00:50:51,911
Jean D'Yvoire,
596
00:50:51,935 --> 00:50:53,828
Jann Lardeau,
597
00:50:53,852 --> 00:50:57,911
Henri Pialat, director of CIDALC,
598
00:50:57,935 --> 00:50:59,810
Gábor Takács,
599
00:51:01,018 --> 00:51:03,536
and many others.
600
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:05,536
I spent my holidays here.
601
00:51:05,560 --> 00:51:08,619
Times of harvest
and devotion to agriculture,
602
00:51:08,643 --> 00:51:10,786
which I also loved.
603
00:51:10,810 --> 00:51:15,326
Agriculture ties us profoundly
to the earth, to men,
604
00:51:15,350 --> 00:51:18,119
and gives us the perception of God.
605
00:51:18,143 --> 00:51:22,245
I'm a man of many doubts
and much faith.
606
00:51:22,269 --> 00:51:25,828
My parents were Catholics,
from Catholic families,
607
00:51:25,852 --> 00:51:29,643
and I, naturally,
had a Catholic upbringing.
608
00:51:30,935 --> 00:51:34,410
We had priests and nuns in the family.
609
00:51:34,434 --> 00:51:38,286
I attended a Jesuit college
in La Guardia,
610
00:51:38,310 --> 00:51:41,702
"La Passage", in Spain.
611
00:51:41,726 --> 00:51:45,185
Before that I went to
the Colégio Universal in Porto.
612
00:51:49,643 --> 00:51:56,327
When the river was in spate,
it used to flood Veiga...
613
00:51:56,351 --> 00:52:01,452
...and when the water receded
it left these quagmires...
614
00:52:01,476 --> 00:52:04,119
where malaria festered.
615
00:52:04,143 --> 00:52:09,619
In 1646, the local people
decided to make a cutting in the land...
616
00:52:09,643 --> 00:52:13,119
...to join the different strands
of the river,
617
00:52:13,143 --> 00:52:18,161
diverting it away from Veiga
and using it for irrigation.
618
00:52:18,185 --> 00:52:21,245
The result was this waterfall
of 18 meters,
619
00:52:21,269 --> 00:52:23,601
now known as "The Cut".
620
00:52:31,691 --> 00:52:36,376
In 1963,
during the fascist regime,
621
00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:38,626
I was arrested by the secret police.
622
00:52:38,650 --> 00:52:42,293
I never learned the real reason.
623
00:52:42,317 --> 00:52:45,583
I presumed it was because
of a conference...
624
00:52:45,607 --> 00:52:48,109
...in the journalists' guild of Porto,
625
00:52:49,983 --> 00:52:53,109
where I gave a talk
about the premiere of my film,
626
00:52:54,817 --> 00:52:57,001
"Acto da Primavera",
627
00:52:57,025 --> 00:52:58,733
in the Trindade cinema,
628
00:52:59,858 --> 00:53:03,400
and said things
that didn't please the regime.
629
00:53:06,442 --> 00:53:11,234
Later, I was ill, in bed,
with a bad case of bronchitis.
630
00:53:13,650 --> 00:53:18,293
Two spooks from PIDE
burst into my room,
631
00:53:18,317 --> 00:53:20,567
a little dizzy...
632
00:53:21,650 --> 00:53:24,858
...from the maze-like layout
of my house.
633
00:53:26,317 --> 00:53:27,733
One of them...
634
00:53:28,900 --> 00:53:33,275
...told me abruptly:
"You have to come with us."
635
00:53:34,650 --> 00:53:36,667
"But I'm ill!"
636
00:53:36,691 --> 00:53:39,583
"Never mind that, you have to come."
637
00:53:39,607 --> 00:53:42,335
"I'm not leaving. I'm ill."
638
00:53:42,359 --> 00:53:46,293
The PIDE doctor came,
my doctor came,
639
00:53:46,317 --> 00:53:48,834
and they ended up forcing me...
640
00:53:48,858 --> 00:53:51,317
...to get dressed and go with them.
641
00:53:54,900 --> 00:53:58,126
On the way we came here to the office.
642
00:53:58,150 --> 00:54:00,293
They turned everything over,
643
00:54:00,317 --> 00:54:01,650
looked at the books...
644
00:54:03,067 --> 00:54:06,043
...from one end to another,
looked at the desk,
645
00:54:06,067 --> 00:54:07,775
opened the safe,
646
00:54:10,733 --> 00:54:12,543
and found nothing.
647
00:54:12,567 --> 00:54:16,918
Then they told me to sign
a paper saying...
648
00:54:16,942 --> 00:54:20,543
...they hadn't violated
or broken anything.
649
00:54:20,567 --> 00:54:21,959
I thought:
650
00:54:21,983 --> 00:54:24,667
"Great, I sign this paper...
651
00:54:24,691 --> 00:54:28,567
...and once they've got it
they'll break everything."
652
00:54:29,900 --> 00:54:31,817
But that's not what happened.
653
00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:35,442
I had no alternative,
654
00:54:36,858 --> 00:54:39,126
I had to sign the paper.
655
00:54:39,150 --> 00:54:43,650
But fortunately, as I said,
nothing happened.
656
00:54:44,858 --> 00:54:49,085
All they did was take me
to their Renault, the "Bedpan",
657
00:54:49,109 --> 00:54:52,168
which took me to the offices of PIDE
in Porto.
658
00:54:52,192 --> 00:54:54,918
I was there for a few hours,
659
00:54:54,942 --> 00:54:57,942
then they took me to Lisbon.
660
00:54:59,567 --> 00:55:04,526
Before I left for Lisbon
they let my wife visit me.
661
00:55:05,858 --> 00:55:08,583
She came to me without crying...
662
00:55:08,607 --> 00:55:13,001
...and gave me a small tin of biscuits
in front of the spooks...
663
00:55:13,025 --> 00:55:14,751
...and the visit was over.
664
00:55:14,775 --> 00:55:18,484
Then I went in the 15 HP "Bedpan"
to Lisbon.
665
00:55:32,109 --> 00:55:36,584
There were three strong, well-built men,
dressed in dark clothes.
666
00:55:36,608 --> 00:55:37,834
One at the wheel,
667
00:55:37,858 --> 00:55:43,834
one beside him, always looking back,
maybe to see if we were being followed,
668
00:55:43,858 --> 00:55:45,858
and the other in the back, next to me.
669
00:55:50,526 --> 00:55:54,793
At the PIDE offices in Lisbon,
they took my papers and my wallet,
670
00:55:54,817 --> 00:55:58,210
my tie, my belt
and the laces from my shoes.
671
00:55:58,234 --> 00:56:02,626
They told me to undress and get
dressed again and stuck me in the cells.
672
00:56:02,650 --> 00:56:06,192
The following day, they questioned me.
673
00:56:09,817 --> 00:56:13,335
Then, they had me taken down
to the front desk.
674
00:56:13,359 --> 00:56:19,376
At this point I noticed another detainee
in the next room, waiting like I was.
675
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:22,583
I learned, later,
676
00:56:22,607 --> 00:56:26,858
it was the writer
Urbano Tavares Rodrigues.
677
00:56:30,025 --> 00:56:32,085
They took us to Aljube,
678
00:56:32,109 --> 00:56:36,317
penned in like animals
and separated by a grille.
679
00:56:45,733 --> 00:56:49,502
When I saw Urbano
doing up his shoes,
680
00:56:49,526 --> 00:56:52,001
I found it strange and wondered:
681
00:56:52,025 --> 00:56:55,733
"They didn't take this guy's shoelaces.
Why not?"
682
00:56:58,900 --> 00:57:03,918
They kept me in a cell,
in a row of very narrow cells,
683
00:57:03,942 --> 00:57:07,335
with a door at each end.
684
00:57:07,359 --> 00:57:11,001
Inside there was nothing
except an extremely narrow cot.
685
00:57:11,025 --> 00:57:14,959
I spent about ten days there
in a terrible monotony.
686
00:57:14,983 --> 00:57:17,626
I felt an awful tedium.
687
00:57:17,650 --> 00:57:21,876
I could hear the clock of the cathedral
marking hours, half hours, quarter hours,
688
00:57:21,900 --> 00:57:25,876
all day and all night.
That increased the tedium.
689
00:57:25,900 --> 00:57:30,085
I didn't eat any
of the meals they brought me.
690
00:57:30,109 --> 00:57:32,543
I didn't even look at the food.
691
00:57:32,567 --> 00:57:34,918
During all this time I fed myself...
692
00:57:34,942 --> 00:57:39,192
...on the rest of the biscuits
they'd let me bring.
693
00:57:40,526 --> 00:57:43,001
One or two biscuits a day.
694
00:57:43,025 --> 00:57:46,626
I drank water from an aluminium mug.
695
00:57:46,650 --> 00:57:52,043
The interrogations were intrusive,
impertinent and aggressive,
696
00:57:52,067 --> 00:57:56,001
worse still when they used humiliation,
making me take my clothes off.
697
00:57:56,025 --> 00:58:00,126
The last time, I was interrogated
by a fellow named Sacchetti.
698
00:58:00,150 --> 00:58:04,376
He put me in the middle of a room
and began to circle around me
699
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:08,526
and for a long time
stood behind me in silence.
700
00:58:09,608 --> 00:58:11,376
And I didn't move.
701
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:16,751
Time seemed to have stopped,
but I kept still and thought:
702
00:58:16,775 --> 00:58:18,983
"How low can a man stoop."
703
00:58:21,775 --> 00:58:25,584
Here's the house where I was born.
It belongs to my sister-in-law now.
704
00:58:25,608 --> 00:58:27,626
It's in ruins.
705
00:58:27,650 --> 00:58:29,876
It's going to be demolished.
706
00:58:29,900 --> 00:58:33,210
I got the factory part.
707
00:58:33,234 --> 00:58:35,793
The factory built by my father.
708
00:58:35,817 --> 00:58:41,709
Although my vocation is cinema,
I felt obliged to keep it going.
709
00:58:41,733 --> 00:58:46,667
But the factory was falling apart,
and everything needed renovating.
710
00:58:46,691 --> 00:58:50,502
So I put up all my possessions
as security on a loan.
711
00:58:50,526 --> 00:58:52,583
Then 25 April came,
712
00:58:52,607 --> 00:58:57,834
it was a time of revolutionary action
and great agitation and euphoria.
713
00:58:57,858 --> 00:59:00,418
But great confusion too.
714
00:59:00,442 --> 00:59:03,418
That was when the workers
occupied the factory.
715
00:59:03,442 --> 00:59:05,150
They sent me a telegram:
716
00:59:06,608 --> 00:59:13,210
"People, due long deadlock,
decide occupy factory, keep away.
717
00:59:13,234 --> 00:59:18,293
Workers' committee of firm
of Francisco José de Oliveira & Sons."
718
00:59:18,317 --> 00:59:22,460
At that time we went through
great financial difficulties.
719
00:59:22,484 --> 00:59:24,709
I was filming
"Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe"...
720
00:59:24,733 --> 00:59:29,793
and after work I lobbied the ministries
to find a solution for the factory...
721
00:59:29,817 --> 00:59:33,918
...under the law for assistance
for small and medium industry...
722
00:59:33,942 --> 00:59:36,667
...created after 25 April.
723
00:59:36,691 --> 00:59:43,251
But there was intrigue behind the scenes,
with revolutionary acts and occupations,
724
00:59:43,275 --> 00:59:47,043
which the government encouraged
and protected...
725
00:59:47,067 --> 00:59:49,733
...and the MFA allowed to happen.
726
00:59:51,275 --> 00:59:54,709
My endeavors, therefore,
were ingenuous,
727
00:59:54,733 --> 00:59:59,251
because everything
was systematically denied to me...
728
00:59:59,275 --> 01:00:02,168
...by institutions and banks,
729
01:00:02,192 --> 01:00:05,251
so there'd be a pretext
for the occupation.
730
01:00:05,275 --> 01:00:09,607
And that's what happened
on 4 March 1975.
731
01:00:10,733 --> 01:00:15,168
This was a grievous event
for my life and my children's lives,
732
01:00:15,192 --> 01:00:17,876
in the financial sense,
733
01:00:17,900 --> 01:00:20,067
but it didn't touch my soul.
734
01:00:21,733 --> 01:00:25,959
The factory had been renovated
with the latest equipment.
735
01:00:25,983 --> 01:00:30,834
When they returned the factory to us
this was the state we found it in,
736
01:00:30,858 --> 01:00:34,526
and they'd already removed
some of the best machines.
737
01:00:37,442 --> 01:00:40,959
Now it's empty, useless.
738
01:00:40,983 --> 01:00:46,876
The buildings and land will be sold
so we can pay our creditors:
739
01:00:46,900 --> 01:00:50,376
Banco do Fomento Nacional,
other banks...
740
01:00:50,400 --> 01:00:53,442
...and suppliers of materials.
741
01:00:59,025 --> 01:01:03,584
But I am not and never have been
a man of industry.
742
01:01:03,608 --> 01:01:07,793
What I am and always have been
is a man of cinema.
743
01:01:07,817 --> 01:01:11,043
Here I am in Tóbis Portuguesa,
744
01:01:11,067 --> 01:01:14,775
the only film studio
now existing in Portugal.
745
01:01:16,691 --> 01:01:20,460
The studio, the lighting, the sets
746
01:01:20,484 --> 01:01:24,234
are the most fascinating
habitat of cinema.
747
01:01:25,317 --> 01:01:30,293
The most artificial, the most composite,
the most fun,
748
01:01:30,317 --> 01:01:34,918
and the most illusory -
but also the most authentic,
749
01:01:34,942 --> 01:01:37,543
because it's the most cinematographic.
750
01:01:37,567 --> 01:01:41,502
I say cinematographic
in opposition to concrete reality,
751
01:01:41,526 --> 01:01:45,583
for cinema made in a studio
is always fiction.
752
01:01:45,607 --> 01:01:49,109
And fiction
is the true reality of cinema.
753
01:01:51,025 --> 01:01:55,418
It's through fiction, I think,
that we can best gauge reality,
754
01:01:55,442 --> 01:01:57,484
or a concrete reality.
755
01:02:00,712 --> 01:02:02,354
Goodbye, Mr. Gatekeeper.
756
01:02:02,378 --> 01:02:07,271
With your feather duster you can dust
the roof and the whole house.
757
01:02:07,295 --> 01:02:10,837
Until all that's left is a clearing
where someone builds something else.
758
01:02:11,921 --> 01:02:16,063
A light went on.
I wonder if someone's at home?
759
01:02:16,087 --> 01:02:18,147
Let's not start that again...
760
01:02:18,171 --> 01:02:19,980
It isn't that.
761
01:02:20,004 --> 01:02:22,897
I think I'd rather have met
a bad-tempered old housekeeper
762
01:02:22,921 --> 01:02:26,105
that closed the door in our faces.
763
01:02:26,129 --> 01:02:28,022
You can't see the magnolia any more,
764
01:02:28,046 --> 01:02:31,480
but knowing that single flower is there,
like a star,
765
01:02:31,504 --> 01:02:33,921
gives me a kind of joy and strength.
766
01:03:51,171 --> 01:03:54,772
I'm writing the treatment
for my next film,
767
01:03:54,796 --> 01:03:58,420
which is called
"Não ou a vanglória de mandar".
768
01:03:59,670 --> 01:04:03,688
It's a historical reflection
on 25 April.
769
01:04:03,712 --> 01:04:07,670
Why did I become
so interested in this subject?
770
01:04:08,921 --> 01:04:11,189
I'm not sure I know the answer.
771
01:04:11,213 --> 01:04:14,462
Perhaps the shock
of the great and sudden change...
772
01:04:16,796 --> 01:04:21,105
...that was the revolution of 25 April.
773
01:04:21,129 --> 01:04:24,396
Or perhaps because,
since my schooldays,
774
01:04:24,420 --> 01:04:28,087
I've been used to hearing
about the history of Portugal.
775
01:04:29,837 --> 01:04:33,837
And because this history
seems connected with our childhood.
776
01:04:35,087 --> 01:04:38,396
Our childhood is a kind of longing.
777
01:04:38,420 --> 01:04:42,962
A longing in the sense
that's it's a projection of a future.
778
01:04:44,171 --> 01:04:46,129
I'm not a political person,
779
01:04:47,420 --> 01:04:50,105
in the common acceptance of the term.
780
01:04:50,129 --> 01:04:51,295
I never have been.
781
01:04:52,879 --> 01:04:55,646
If deep down I am political,
782
01:04:55,670 --> 01:04:59,629
it's in a historical sense,
not party-political.
783
01:05:02,171 --> 01:05:07,587
The fact is I felt impelled,
unexpectedly caught up...
784
01:05:09,046 --> 01:05:14,605
...in that interest,
the historical curiosity to know better,
785
01:05:14,629 --> 01:05:18,938
to examine the direction
Portugal was taking,
786
01:05:18,962 --> 01:05:24,189
perhaps influenced by my reading
of some of our greatest poets,
787
01:05:24,213 --> 01:05:27,563
like Camões, Father António Vieira,
788
01:05:27,587 --> 01:05:30,545
Fernando Pessoa and José Régio.
789
01:05:34,337 --> 01:05:39,063
Which makes me ask myself:
790
01:05:39,087 --> 01:05:46,271
"What is it about the Portuguese
that causes this bottomless curiosity?"
791
01:05:46,295 --> 01:05:51,879
Territorially, we're one of the
smallest countries in the world.
792
01:05:53,046 --> 01:05:57,462
Why is it we take it upon ourselves,
793
01:05:59,921 --> 01:06:05,022
feel ourselves obliged,
to divine the destinies of the world,
794
01:06:05,046 --> 01:06:09,295
as if we were responsible for it?
795
01:06:12,712 --> 01:06:16,063
The sword and the earth,
796
01:06:16,087 --> 01:06:19,438
the masculine and the feminine,
797
01:06:19,462 --> 01:06:22,688
love and possession,
798
01:06:22,712 --> 01:06:25,378
power and frustration.
799
01:06:26,629 --> 01:06:29,563
Death as the end of everything?
800
01:06:29,587 --> 01:06:33,730
Or the way to greater glory, beyond?
801
01:06:33,754 --> 01:06:39,271
I remember my childhood,
I remember my parents,
802
01:06:39,295 --> 01:06:43,022
my wife, my children,
803
01:06:43,046 --> 01:06:47,712
times gone by
and a future that one day will be past.
804
01:06:49,004 --> 01:06:51,022
I remember myself!
805
01:06:51,046 --> 01:06:54,046
My infinitesimal presence...
806
01:06:55,295 --> 01:06:58,605
...in time and space,
807
01:06:58,629 --> 01:07:00,420
and... I disappear.
60965
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.