The Mystery of Sintra (2007)
"O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra" (original title)

A critique of the romantic Portuguese society of the nineteenth century.

Director:

Jorge Paixão da Costa

Writers:

Jorge Paixão da Costa (screenplay), Mário Botequilha (screenplay),

Stars:

Ivo Canelas, António Pedro Cerdeira, Bruna Di Tullio

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ivo Canelas	...	Eça de Queirós
António Pedro Cerdeira	...	Ramalho Ortigão
Bruna Di Tullio	...	Countess Luísa Valadas
Rogério Samora	...	Count Jorge Valadas
José Pedro Vasconcelos	...	Vasco
Giselle Itié	...	Carmen Puebla
Flávio Galvão	...	Nicázio Puebla
James Weber Brown	...	Rytmel
Nicolau Breyner	...	Eduardo Coelho
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Bento	...	Piano Player
Valerie Braddell	...	Lady Constance
Carla Chambel	...	Voice of the Countess (voice)
Vítor Correia	...	Batalha Reis
Carlos Costa	...	Cello Player
Rui David	...	Count Abranhos' Assistant

Storyline

Summer of 1870. Two writers, Eça de Queiroz and Ramalho Ortigão, decide to write a four-handed whodunit for the daily "Diário de Notícias". Could it be that the story they wrote as fiction is based on a real case? This question fuels the conflict between the two writers and drives them to a nearly fatal duel. Lisbon is in commotion. One crime follows another in a story in which love is stronger than tradition. Everything happens at frenzied pace, as in a game.

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Plot Keywords:

duel | gun duel | sex scene | cousin cousin relationship | city name in title | 

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

Brazil Portugal

Language:

Portuguese English Spanish

Release Date:

3 May 2007 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

The Mystery of Sintra

Filming Locations:

Lisbon, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agência Nacional do Cinema (ANCINE), Animatógrafo II, Filmes de Fundo

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A poor chocolate wrapped in rich silvered paper

In the second half of 19th century the Portuguese writers Eça de Queiroz and Ramalho Ortigão wrote a newspaper serial under this same title in a curious way: each one wrote the respective chapters alternately. This movie is based on that serial. It intertwines it, however, with the story of the two authors writing it with a lot of incidents caused mainly because the husband of the countess involved in the story accuses them of telling true scandalous events of the countess love life. This comprehends an amorous relationship between the countess and a British officer, the countess' cousin who is in love with her and a Cuban more or less libertine woman who is trying to seduce the British officer. The story ends (this is where the movie begins) with the murder of the British officer (by the countess? by the Cuban woman?). The story is told in a confusing and incongruous way mixing the writers' fiction with the supposed reality without letting us know where one ends and the other begins. The acting is just passable. The only positive quality of the movie is the good re-creation of the the atmosphere of that epoch in terms of sceneries and costumes making it a poor chocolate wrapped in rich silvered paper.