Ageing Chilean master Raúl Ruiz previously created a mosaic labyrinthine narrative in his film version of Proust’s Le temps retrouvé (1999). The four-and-a-half hour, breathtaking Mysteries of Lisbon, announced by Ruiz himself as possibly his last film, is also based on a 19th-century epic novel, by Camilo Castelo Branco.
The pivot of an ingenious plot is the bastard son Joao, who wants to know who his parents are. The priest who cares for him reunites him with his mother, a stunningly beautiful duchess. Then a spiral of narrative lines unravels in which countless characters pass by. Their fates come together, fall apart and flow back together again. All turn out to have a secret identity – even Joao is not who he seems.
With the aid of majestic camerawork and opulent compositions of aristocratic interiors, Ruiz makes an imposing mammoth film, elegant costume drama and sparkling fairytale.
Film details
- Countries of production
- France, Portugal
- Year
- 2010
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2011
- Length
- 330'
- Medium/Format
- DVD
