Recollections of the Yellow House (1989)
"Recordações da Casa Amarela" (original title)

Director:

João César Monteiro

Writer:

João César Monteiro

Stars:

João César Monteiro, Manuela de Freitas, Ruy Furtado

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
João César Monteiro	...	João de Deus
Manuela de Freitas	...	Dona Violeta
Ruy Furtado	...	Senhor Armando
Teresa Calado	...	Menina Julieta
António Terrinha	...	Doctor
Violeta Sarzedas	...	Neighbor in Living Room
Madalena Lua	...	Maid
João Bénard da Costa	...	Dairy Clerk (as João Pedro Bénard)
Sabina Sacchi	...	Mimi
Inês de Medeiros	...	Mimi's Voice (voice)
Manuel Gomes	...	Laurindo
Maria Ângela de Oliveira	...	Madre de Deus
Maria da Luz Fernandes	...	Neighbor with Baby
Vasco Sequeira	...	Taverner
José Nunes	...	Kennel Attendant

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatry | sanitarium | boarding house | fetish | rape | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Portugal

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

12 October 1989 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Recollections of the Yellow House

Filming Locations:

Lisbon, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Invicta Filmes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by As Bodas de Deus (1999)

User Reviews

Portuguese idiosyncrasy

This is a strikingly original piece of work. Both in its overall tone and in how it portrays (what I would call) a certain sickening "malaise" of our age's urban solitary Man.

This is where the João de Deus character (almost his alter-ego) first shows up in Monteiro's "oeuvre". Yes, it can be said that this film depicts some of Man's most shamingly unconfessed little dirty everyday sleaziness. But it does so in a hauntingly poetic way: there's somewhat of (what might be called) "aesthetics of all things disgusting" to it, which would reach its peak in Monteiro's own A BACIA DE J.W.

João de Deus undergoes some sordid humiliation and proceeds to enact or abide by the politics of slimy (but classy and literate) seduction. It's the "classy" and "literate" factors that prevent this film from being annoyingly disgusting (it's not "what" you do but "how" you do it)

There's also the lust of decadence as he's comfortably numbed into an ever materially and psychologically degrading state, starting from when he has to flee the flat he was paying for after a uniquely poetic and shy seduction/rape scene.

It's quite possibly the best Portuguese film I've seen. And there's much of the proverbial Portuguese dreaming and poetic melancholy (even sadness) tone in that there's shootings of the narrow typical Lisbon streets and recreations of some (not so typical) fate-ridden scenes (fate means "fado") so closely and frequently attached to the Portuguese.