Word and Utopia

Second tribute paid by Manoel de Oliveira to Padre Antônio Vieira. One of Padre Vieira?s sermons from the series dedicated to Saint Anthony, was used in

No, or the Vain Glory of Command. This is not a film biography of controversial Padre Vieira, but rather, a courageous document on words, on thought. In 1663, the priest is summoned to stand before the terrible Portuguese Inquisition to explain the ideas he upholds, questioning slavery, the condition of Indians, and Empire-colony relations. Intrigues in the court and a small misunderstanding are enough to weaken his power as a Jesuit priest who was once on familiar terms with the king, Dom João VI. Padre Vieira is on trial and, before the judges, he lays out his past on a clean slate: his youth spent in Brazil, the years as a novice in Bahia, his involvement in the cause of the Indians, and his first success in the pulpit. Forbidden by the Inquisition to speak in public, he seeks refuge in Rome where he attains an enormous reputation and success.

Born in Porto, Portugal, in 1908. Before being a director, he was race driver and athlete. Made his first short silent film, Douro, Faina Fluvial, in 1931. In the 1940’s, he became a winemaker. He returned to cinema in the 1970’s with authorial films that made him one of the most unique directors in history. Oliveira had all of his movies since Ill-Fated Love (1978, 3rd Mostra) presented at the São Paulo Film Festival. He gained a complete retrospective of his work at the 15th Mostra and at the 29th Mostra, respectively in 1991 and 2005. He won Mostra’s Special Festival Award with The Cannibals (1988, 12nd Mostra), the Critics Prize for Abraham’s Valley (1993, 17th Mostra) and I’m Going Home (2001, 25th Mostra), and the Humanity Award for the ensemble of his work (2004, 28th Mostra). He also directed titles such as Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl (2009, 33rd Mostra), The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, 34th Mostra), the segment From Visible to Invisible, part of the film Invisible World (2011, 35th Mostra), produced by Mostra, Gebo and the Shadow (2012, 36th Mostra) and The Old Man of Belem (2014, 38th Mostra). Died in 2015 at the age of 106.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA