Providence and the Guitar

Life has never been easy for itinerant artists, and Leon and Elvira know it too well. Caught between moody police officers, rival performers, and small and cheeky demons, with a little help from new friends found on their way, Leon and Elvira must find the strength to keep believing in their art.

Leon and Elvira Bertelhini are a 19th-century couple of performers, deeply in love and devoted to bringing their art to stages across Portugal. They travel from village to village, delighting peasants with their acting and singing. But life has never been easy for itinerant artists. Caught between moody police officers, rival performers, and small and cheeky demons, Leon and Elvira must find the strength to keep believing in their art. Set over the course of a single day, yet punctuated by unexpected and compelling leaps forward of a century and a half, João Nicolau’s fourth feature film is freely inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Providence and the Guitar. The result is a tender fable about creativity and integrity, both romantic and witty.

Through the protagonists’ never-ending struggle to find the means to sustain both their art and their livelihood, Nicolau’s remarkable cast – including star singer Salvador Sobral, playing a reluctant economics student – delivers a gorgeous tale about the importance of art in everyday life. In a world where culture is constantly weaponised by politics, Nicolau’s film emerges as a tender yet resolute story of resistance.

– Rebecca De Pas