Magic Mirror (2005)

Luciano, fresh out of jail, was taken by his brother, Flórido, to serve in the home of wealthy Alfreda. He was surprised when she told him that her greatest desire was to see the Virgin ... See full summary »

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writers:

Agustina Bessa-Luís (inspired by the book "A Alma dos Ricos"), Manoel de Oliveira (adaptation)

Stars:

Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trêpa, Luís Miguel Cintra

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonor Silveira	...	Alfreda
Ricardo Trêpa	...	José Luciano / Touro Azul
Luís Miguel Cintra	...	Filipe Quinta
Leonor Baldaque	...	Vicenta / Abril
Glória de Matos	...	Nurse Hilda
Isabel Ruth	...	Celsa Adelaide
Adelaide Teixeira	...	Queta
Diogo Dória	...	Police Comissioner
José Wallenstein	...	Américo
Maestro Atalaya	...	Prof. Oboé
P. João Marques	...	Priest Feliciano (as Padre João Marques)
Marisa Paredes	...	Monja
Michel Piccoli	...	Prof. Heschel
Lima Duarte	...	Priest Clodel
Eugénia Cunha	...	Costureira (seamstress)

Storyline

Luciano, fresh out of jail, was taken by his brother, Flórido, to serve in the home of wealthy Alfreda. He was surprised when she told him that her greatest desire was to see the Virgin Mary. Now comes this rich land owner with her sublime pretensions. Isn't it enough for her to have an Aston Martin and a Jaguar in the garage and ten different dresses per season? It was all professor Heschel's fault. Or someone else's. Anyway, to go beyond the promise is heresy. Alfreda said that she wouldn't rest until she saw the Virgin and made her some questions. Filipe Quinta, the Forger, says he has a solution. Meanwhile, Bahia, her husband, listens do music.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to the virgin mary | venice italy | ex convict | portugal | mansion | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

Filbox Produções [Portugal] (Portuguese, English, French)

Country:

Portugal

Language:

French Spanish Portuguese English

Release Date:

9 March 2006 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Magic Mirror

Filming Locations:

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel

Box Office

Budget:

€2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filbox Produções, Ministério da Cultura, Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia (ICAM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in João Bénard da Costa: Outros Amarão as Coisas que eu Amei (2014)

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Soundtracks

Dança Macabra (Danse macabre)
by Camille Saint-Saëns

User Reviews

Superb....

This was part of a 2 film retrospective (for lack of a better term) at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC of recent works by Manoel de Oliveira (the other film was The Fifth Empire-Yesterday as Today). This is the better of the two films. This one has one of the more surreal plots of any de Oliveira film. It concerns itself with a rich woman (played by Leonor Silveira, a mainstay in Manoel's films) who has a strong desire to witness the Virgin Mary. 2 con men (one of whom has been just released from jail and the other is trying to go "clean", but doesn't seem to be trying too hard) devise a scheme to milk her out of some money and hire a local girl to portray the Virgin Mary for her. The plot here is actually quite funny, and this is one of de Oliveira's most surreal, touching, and beguiling films. The performances are all first rate, and the film has a wonderful, languid pacing to it (like most of Manoel's films). There is even a strange, dreamlike scene that takes "place" in Venice. It looks like a projection mistake when I first saw it, but then realised it was supposed to look like that, it made a sort of unique sense. I was rather disappointed at the crowds for these films (there was only 10 people in the audience for Magic Mirror, only 6 for The Fifth Empire), but I stayed for the duration of both films. I'm glad I'm did. Much of Manoel's work is not on DVD, but if you get a chance to see any of his work, please do. Even his minor films (like Party) are pretty good.