A Talking Picture
by Manoel de Oliveira
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Catherine Deneuve, Filipa de Almeida, John Malkovich, Leonor Silveira, Stefania SandrelliDirector: Manoel de Oliveira
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Greek (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Portuguese (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-04-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Kino Video
Movie Reviews of A Talking Picture
Movie Review: Fraudulent
Summary: 1 Stars
In addition to all the other one-star reviews, with which I agree, what annoyed me about the film is the sheer fraud of it. It trades on all the good things -- the glories of Western civilization and history, the great European tradition of conversation, the understated European style of film-making -- but it makes such poor use of them all as to actually cheapen them. The film simply rings false from beginning to end. Let's see: a history professor mom has raised a daughter to age EIGHT who needs to ask what a myth or legend is? Or a mermaid, for crying out loud? And a Roman Catholic Christian who prays (the fact is prominently stated) has raised a child who has never heard of Moses or pharaohs? Oh, but this is not a real mother, it's a cardboard cutout -- and it talks like a dumbed-down textbook, not like a woman to a child, despite all the efforts of the excellent and charming actress Leonor Silveira.
The film is filled with Chekhov's guns that do not go off at the end. Nothing, literally nothing is made of the episode with the fisherman's dog, or the seemingly suggestive encounter with the suave Portuguese actor. The much built-up conceit of the captain's table conversation in four languages without translation collapses when the Portuguese mother and child join the table: no magic after all, not a modern-day Pentecost, simply people who know English, French and Italian -- not unusual for Europeans (although adding Greek to it is a stretch) -- but don't know Portuguese.
And the platitudes they spew in those languages! I am sure this was intended as sparkling wit and nuance. Let's see: (1) Love is a tyrant; (2) The world would be better run by women; (3) The cause of terrorism and religious fundamentalism is lack of "convergent values". And so on, interspersed with pseudo-historical cliches such as that Arabs spread Greek culture to Europeans. I feel sorry for the excellent Catherine Deneuve and the other actors (even the abominable, embarrassing John Malkovich) who had to work with such awful script. On second thought, no, I don't, they chose to do it.
I understand that Oliveira has a following; I have not seen his other films; and I allow that some things may have been lost in translation. But on balance... no, we didn't "not get it" because we are uncultured swine. This emperor really has no clothes.
Summary of A Talking Picture
Effortlessly gliding from graceful travelogue to playful star-driven caprice to trenchant cautionary fable, A TALKING PICTURE is "a majestic and profound work by one of the greatest of all living filmmakers" (Chicago Tribune). Writer-director Manoel de Oliveira (I'M GOING HOME, VOYAGE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD) has created a valedictory cinematic masterpiece that balances timeless beauty with audacious theatricality in order to explore the fanciful myths and grim ironies that define Western Civilization at a millennial crossroads. In july of 2001, eight-year-old Maria Joana embarks on an ocean cruise from her native Portugal to Bombay, India accompanied by her mother, history professor Rosa Maria (Leonor Silveira). But as three mysterious and glamorous women, each played by a world-renowned film legend, board first at Marseilles (Catherine Deneuve - UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG), Naples (Bernardo Bertolucci muse Stefania Sandrelli) and Athens (Irene Papas - THE TROJAN WOMEN, ANTIGONE), their picturesque journey begins to grow in tension and complexity. When ship captain John Walesa (John Malkovich - BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) hosts a unique summit between these three international graces, the table is literally set to transform A TALKING PICTURE from a genial melancholic history lesson into an incendiary contemporary news flash. Deftly, lovingly and confidently crafting a film of subtle rhythms, deep conviction and shocking contrasts, 96 year old Manoel de Oliveira "appears unstoppable" (Boston Globe) and conclusively demonstrates he is "a master of the medium" (The New York Times). "With rare eloquence," A TALKING PICTURE "speaks to our hearts and minds about modern quandaries and eternal truths." (Chicago Tribune)Art House & International DVD Video
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