Amor de Perdição (Amor de Perdição )

The third entry in Oliveira’s Tetralogy. Based on the novel by Camilo Castelo Branco. A major innovation is the presentation of story: off-screen narration often running counter to what is shown. An accretion of complex narrative layering intertwines in a ritual of love, death, and liberation. Heterogenous stylization from real-world locations to overtly artificial stages. Both austere and open to moments of bravura. Strands brought together in a final sequence, the intensity of which brought the Berlin audience to its feet in an extended ovation for the director. One would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful cinematic experience. (C.W. Winter)

Film print courtesy of Cinemateca Portuguesa