David P
A curious film that could have been so much better. It has a number of story threads, few of which actually tun together or are explored to the end, and the constant shift from one to another becomes confusing. One odd thing; many of the scenes are indoors or at night, and the lighting there is always very dark. While the film is visually strong, the same cannot be sad of the storyline.
It has some interesting views of the war in Portugal and the actions of the British, but it seems to hold back from making a statement of any kind. Th horror and futility of war? Yes, some of that, but the largely unanswered question is, what did the Portuguese think of the British?
The film takes a distinctly odd view of Wellington, starting by using John Malkovich, who does not like Wellington in the slightest. He is also reduced to an almost cartoonish character, somewhat petulant, and somewhat redundant to the action, such as it is. For there is little combat, few views of the famous lines, and the end comes suddenly, as an anticlimax, with a text saying that the GFrench retreated from Portugal,
The end has an incomplete thread that could have said so much more, Someone who seems to be a wealthy aristocrat wanders around, forlornly asking people i they have sen his wife and showing them a miniature picture of her. Quite unexpectedly, he runs into her, only to discover that she had intentionally lost him in the crowd and now has a lover. His feeble response to this begs the question as to why. Is it an allegory about the impotence of the aristocracy? Why did his wife dislike him? The end, with the man wandering forlornly over the hills,, with a liveried manservant pushing a handcart with a few of his possessions; is this symbolic?
One odd touch; the British soldiers are all shown wearing "swallow's wings" at their shoulders. They are actually the mark of a bandsman.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
09/01/24
Full Review
Edward K
Terrible. Boring. Lack of story and lack of character development. Dull and slow. Malkovich only has small pointless scenes.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Enormous in scope; star driven (Malkovich, Deneuve, Huppert) but plays like a medocre play on screen
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Visually beautiful, but soporific from start to finish
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Boring and way too long!
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
When the elderly Portuguese director Raul Ruiz died in 2011 he left behind plans for the follow-up to his successful historical epic, Mysteries of Lisbon. His widow Valeria Sarmiento has brought Ruiz's plans to the screen in this hugely ambitious Napoleonic war tale. Like Mysteries, it weaves together numerous strands and characters to recount the long retreat of the Anglo-Portuguese forces in the face of a massive French invasion in 1810-11 - a retreat to the titular Lines of Wellington, the (hopefully) impregnable English defences around Lisbon. Sarmiento has produced a remarkably adept war story, that does not shy away from the gruesome aspects of bitter conflict, particularly for the ordinary folk caught up in the devastation. Some of the characterisation is perhaps a little too melodramatic, and perhaps some of the acting is a little stilted due to the multi-lingual cast, but the film cannot be faulted for the scale of its ambition, and the attention to detail in its production values.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
