MONTANHA, it is the universal story of a kid lisbon lost and confronted prematurely with the responsibilities of adult life. During one summer, David, 14 years old, knows that his grandfather is going to die but refuses to visit him for fear of losing it. Her mother, she spends entire nights at his bedside. The vacuum left by his grand-father, forcing David to become the man of the house. He feels he is not ready to assume this new role, but without realizing it, the more he tries to avoid it, the more it is close…
MONTANHA is introduced by a long static shot, revealing the body of David encircled by a few rays of suns killers, softened by a fan is beneficial. An introduction a harbinger of the general atmosphere of the story of David, a teenager in the process of moving to adulthood in the shadow of a fateful tragedy. The victim of a contagious lethargy, David and his friends wander in the Lisbon emptied of its usual joy-of-life communicative. Well distant of a picture postcard, the city is dripping with melancholy and roughness. The body inexpressive stroll in these streets, these cities bleak and grayish, at the mercy of passing time.
After a palme d’or (Arena, 2009) and a golden bear in Berlin (Rafa, 2012) on the format short film, it was natural that João Salaviza vienna boxer in the top category. His staging is sharp and shaped in the radical where the language is more tangible than verbal. Indeed, all the nostalgia of the characters is drawn in the framing of João Salaviza and lifted to a high level plastic camera. The work is to animate the huge blocks of concrete in which are the illuminated terraces and uninhabited. At the same time, Lisbon becomes the theatre of wailing teenage girls to the light of the sun and the ominous dominance of shadows deadly. This set of lights, all the poetry elegiac emerges, aesthetically striking. Thus, the combination of these two sections set the scene opens on a narration as clever as subtle. In this respect, excellent ideas emerge from MONTANHA as this plan rotary unveiling a touching and bashful first kiss.
“Very aesthetic, MONTANHA unveiled by the image, the melancholy and the giddy fall of David. Nevertheless, the requirement of the project leaves little room for any form of empathy.”
But the requirement of the project may take at a distance the viewer from the story. MONTANHA is necessary, moreover, a slow pace and too little talk. If one is captivated by the plastic demented feature film, it may sometimes be gained by boredom. This strictness imposed by João Salaviza can also omit to create empathy with the viewer. Because ultimately, if we watch the twists and turns of this younger generation is left to the abandonment, the director is not always remembered to include us in the marrow narrative. Therefore, the empathy gains us misses listening to the last words spoken by David, both in the waiver and maturity.
Sofiane
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• Production : João Salaviza
• Scenario : João Salaviza • Main actors : David Mourato, Maria João Pinho, Rodrigo Perdigão
• Country of origin : Portugal
• Output : 4 May 2016
• Duration : 1h31 min
• Distributor : Pyramide Distribution
• Synopsis : See above