O Fauno das Montanhas

It's well known that aristocrats, due to their idle natures, have a penchant for rambling, so in order to prevent this it is always advisable that the master of the Schloss be constantly occupied ( whipping the servants for example) . The same thing happens from time to time with idle bourgeoisies although unfortunately these have to be content with screaming at someone passing by… And that's precisely what happens when Frau Jenny, daughter of the wise English naturalist Herr Garton, accompanies her father to one of the best hotels in Funchal, capital of the island of Madeira so that he may study a specific type of rare bird ( "Regulus Madeirensis", more precisely ). Due to the assertion that this Herr Graf mentioned before, Herr Professor doesn't suffer the ramblings intrinsic to bourgeoisies because he is much occupied with his work, but that's not the case with Frau Jenny, an idle and romantic fraulein. She comes to think that the guard of the mountain range refuge where they are staying resembles the statue of a faun that they had in their garden in England.

"O Fauno Das Montanhas" ( The Faun Of The Mountains ) ( 1926) is a medium-length film directed by Herr Manuel Luís Vieira and is an early and interesting attempt to portray the fantastic in this Portuguese silent film production. The weird nature of the story has possibilities but Herr Vieira often seems more interested the splendid and beautiful landscapes of Madeira (Of course nature does play an important part in the picture).

There is a romantic atmosphere implicit in the film that is the best part of "O Fauno…"; oneiric images showing nymphs and a faun (all from Frau Jenny's dreamy mind) that mesh perfectly and in a mesmerizing way with the Madeira backgrounds (splendidly photographed). Often these seem like evocative visions from old book illustrations but then the film comes down to earth when Frau Jenny's imaginings take a deranged turn and, influenced by a nightmare, she shoots the guard thinking he had tried to kill her father.

A very interesting aspect of the film are some ethnographical scenes which have a documentary quality in their depiction of the traditional and harsh way of life of the inhabitants of Madeira in contrast with Herr Professor's bourgeois concerns.

It was a shame that Herr Vieira wouldn't highlight the more fantastic and romantic aspects of the story, choosing finally more down to earth aesthetic options and neglecting in this way the possibilities that a feverish bourgeois mind could have conjured up from a fertile imagination.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must celebrate a satyr Convention in Madeira's deepest forests.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien