The Portuguese Nun (February 25th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[The Portuguese Nun screens Friday February 25th at 7:00pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque]

Review by Bob Ignizio

French actress Julie (Leonor Baldaque) arrives in Portugal where she is shooting a film about a 17^th century nun involved in a forbidden love affair. The film stars only Julie and one other actor, and the dialog has already been recorded back in France. When Julie explains this to the clerk at her hotel, he responds that, “only intellectuals watch French films”. At least Director Eugene Greene has a sense of humor about his movie, even as he sets about proving the clerk right for the next 2 hours.

The plot, such as it is, concerns Julie searching for love without really giving of herself. She has a fleeting affair with her co-star and goes on what could be considered dates with her director (Greene himself) and a suicidal nobleman. Julie also becomes entranced by a real Portuguese nun (Ana Moreira) and takes an interest in a local orphan boy named Vasco (Francisco Mozos).

Everyone in this film acts in a flat, affected style, often staring straight ahead into the camera with little or no expression on their faces. There are lots of long, carefully composed static shots. We're so accustomed to quick cuts and jerky hand-held camera work these days that it sometimes seems we've forgotten the power of slowing things down and just holding the camera steady on a great image, but Greene hasn't.

This is an art film with a capitol “A”, and while it occasionally pokes fun at that fact, it doesn't make any apologies for it. As striking as the visuals are, The Portuguese Nun is more than just eye candy. It's a movie with ideas and a philosophy, said philosophy being spelled out in a metaphysical discussion between Julie and the nun about the nature of love. Afterward, Julie knows what she must do to achieve fulfillment. That's all well and good, but does it make for good cinema? That's a tough one to answer. In the end, I probably admired this movie far more than I actually enjoyed it. So let's just split the difference and call it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.