Pedro, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

First of all, I have to say that something I thought was really cool was the cinematography of the film and how the scenes on the ship and the sets were filmed. But unfortunately, this movie has other aspects that made me give it a lower rating.

The potential of Cauã Reymond's performance wasn't well explored. He's not bad, but he could have been so much better. The screenplay seemed to limit his character. The movie seems more focused on portraying Pedro's love affairs and some indecent scenes that added nothing, almost like an attempt to degrade a historical figure. The weak screenplay is noticeable in the ending, showing that the movie lacks a clear purpose.

However, one scene I really liked was when Pedro was talking with a slave. It was interesting to see two people from different realities discussing, and how Pedro listened to the pain of that man.

To conclude my review, this movie could have been better if the screenplay had been stronger. However, I must say that the production was good and surprising.

I saw this film by pure chance at a small film festival about the sea, in my small town in Portugal - Ílhavo. When the film ended, I remember thinking how impossible it would have been for Hollywood cinema to tell this story in this claustrophobic, almost sickening way. How do you narrate someone's long journey on a ship and across the Atlantic without ever, not even for a second, having the opportunity to see the English vessel that transported Dom Pedro from Brazil to Portugal? The film is built on the growing tension between the characters and an almost macabre vision of these relationships. The emperor's psychotic existence dominates the story told and the climate generated by this labyrinth of tensions, fears and doubts only accentuates it.