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Overrated

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Overwhelming! I could not stop think about what I had seen in those delicate, deep images for a long time past I saw the movie. The commitment of director Luiz Fernando Carvalho in putting together all the emotions, conflicts, expectations of those characters is so moving that it is impossible not to embark on that journey, to follow his eyes throughout those bodies, that landscape. The light is so poetic, the frames seem literally like paintings in motion. The way the director captured in images the poetry of the novel makes him one of the most talented filmmakers ever. Luiz Fernando Carvalho is, surely, a gifted sorcerer of this special art. Carla Madeira

The narrative is slow, but its lyricism and depth justifies that completely. Direction, acting, art direction, set design and photography are superb, impeccable. The original text, transposed almost literally, is beautiful and philosophically meaningful. The movie make us dive into a dense atmosphere of deep and complex emotions, nothing is superficial. Images and sounds fusions in a whirlpool that really touches the spirit, revolving the soul in a dramatic way. The music, mixing elements from Brasil and Lebanon, is marvelous and perfectly harmonic with the whole work. This is not a movie for Oscar prizes or something like that, but the quintessence of the art cinema, and the best movie i have ever seen.

In my opinion, this is the best movie ever made in Portuguese language, and very few in any language are a match for its depth as a cinematographic experience. Its positive aspects are so many that I find it almost a miracle.Raduan Nassar's text is something from another dimension, and movie director L.F. Carvalho has orchestrated a matching visual symphony for its lines, fearlessly facing the odds involved in a movie with such slow and contemplative pace while maintaining the original text. I cannot recommend it enough; as a matter of fact, I was asking myself if there were any other better movies in the whole world in 2001 and could not think of a single work with a better cinematography, screenplay, soundtrack, cast, lightning and edition; so this is my Oscar for that year.One can only hope three things: that its recent release will finally make it available for viewers everywhere; that the subtitles' translators are exceptional - anything less than that will mar an otherwise unique experience; and that more movies as brave and beautiful as this would appear.But I understand that diamonds are rare anyway, and this very rareness is part of their value. A long life and many loving viewers is my wish for this unique masterpiece, along with the book which inspired it.

I would have given it a better score if it werent so slow and tedious... I think portuguese speakers will appreciate it much more than others will since the strongest aspect are the words and poetic style of the film. Photography is great too. A quicker more dynamic pace and we would have had a oscar winner here.