Who would prefer a "submerged morning" (meaningless in English) to the adequate rendition of the poetic original title, "morning mist"? Someone did. And that title may put off a number of people from watching this video. What a shame. The story is about a poor boy from a poor, rural family, that gets a high-school education in a catholic seminar as - in those days, which I'm old enough to recall, the 1950s - only the filthy reach or those living a large town could afford that luxury. And those that were determined to go into priesthood, often for the wrong reasons. The author of the novel - one of the best contemporary Portuguese writers, that you should try to read if you get hold of a translation - has done a romanticized autobiography here, and even plays the rector of the seminar, with top-notch marks. If you are not so much into social dramas, and religious and psychological conflicts, you should try to see this movie anyway: it has the best of Portuguese rural and mountain landscapes, the best cinematography, and wonderful music. Writing this made me refresh my memory of those magnificent views - aaah! - so that one even breathes fresh air. This film is the product of two loves that multiplied into a work of art, almost perfect: the words of Virgílio Ferreira, and the direction of Lauro António. I'm not so fond of Lauro António as a movie critic, but his film, this film, is definitely RECOMMENDED.
2 Reviews
The Hardships of Life
Eumenides_09 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It's without pride that I say I don't like Portuguese cinema. I find them confusing and confused pseudo-intellectual exercises which only mean anything to the filmmaker and alienate everyone else. I wish I could love Portuguese cinema as much as I do Italian, French, British, Spanish or American cinema.
That's not to say I can't enjoy the occasional movie made in my country. Manhã Submersa is such a movie. Adapted from one of the best novels I've ever read, written by one of the Portugal's best 20th century writers, this semi-autobiographical movie follows the life of António, the son of working-class people, in a seminar preparing to become a priest. It's an oppressive, joyless life punctuated with the occasional moments of fun with his classmates. He din't ask to be there, and neither could he ever aspire to become a priest were it not for the fact his mother's boss, Dona Estefãnia (played by the great actress Eunice Muñoz), has arranged for him to be admitted. She's an elderly rich Catholic woman and her will is like a command from God in the region.
António is a bit like a pet, having a place at Dona Estefãnia's household only to amuse her and her family, who consider themselves nice people for deciding for himself his future as a priest. The director, Lauro António, subtly shows the conflict between these two classes and moves the movie towards a tragic but inevitable conclusion.
As a document of the way of life in Portugal only a few decades ago, Manhã Submersa is of infinite value. As a movie, it's an emotional, sad and fascinating experience.
That's not to say I can't enjoy the occasional movie made in my country. Manhã Submersa is such a movie. Adapted from one of the best novels I've ever read, written by one of the Portugal's best 20th century writers, this semi-autobiographical movie follows the life of António, the son of working-class people, in a seminar preparing to become a priest. It's an oppressive, joyless life punctuated with the occasional moments of fun with his classmates. He din't ask to be there, and neither could he ever aspire to become a priest were it not for the fact his mother's boss, Dona Estefãnia (played by the great actress Eunice Muñoz), has arranged for him to be admitted. She's an elderly rich Catholic woman and her will is like a command from God in the region.
António is a bit like a pet, having a place at Dona Estefãnia's household only to amuse her and her family, who consider themselves nice people for deciding for himself his future as a priest. The director, Lauro António, subtly shows the conflict between these two classes and moves the movie towards a tragic but inevitable conclusion.
As a document of the way of life in Portugal only a few decades ago, Manhã Submersa is of infinite value. As a movie, it's an emotional, sad and fascinating experience.
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