In 2022, with Vasil [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Avelina Prat
scheda film], the Valencian filmmaker (and former architect – an important detail) Avelina Prat became known for exploring a theme that runs through her short but compelling filmography: immigration. Her second film, The Portuguese House [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] –which opens in Spain on Friday 9 May, distributed by Filmax– also has characters who emigrate, though for different reasons that are often unexpected and unconventional.

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For example, the film’s protagonist –a misguided Fernando (played by Manolo Solo), a university geography professor in Barcelona with a fondness for paper maps over digital ones– decides to travel to the opposite coast of the Iberian Peninsula after his wife (of Bulgarian nationality) leaves him and returns to her country with no explanation.

But on the shores of the Atlantic he befriends Manuel (Xavi Mira), a gardener, also Spanish, stateless and itinerant, who one afternoon promises to show him a unique place the following day. And indeed it is: from that moment on, Fernando's  life takes a bold, surprising, radical and unpredictable turn, yet one that is deeply enriching, in a place as beautiful as it is unique.

With slow and wonderfully written dialogues that carries echoes of Éric Rohmer as well as those of traditional storytelling, settings in Ponte de Lima (northern Portugal) that tempt you to book your next summer holiday there, and a leisurely pace full of silences reminiscent of the films of Víctor Erice, Mario Camus and Carlos Saura, The Portuguese House is a delightful, enigmatic fable that restores our faith in an ill-fated humanity.

The female characters in particular are unforgettable: the elegant, mysterious and elusive owner of the house, played by Maria de Medeiros, who watches, remains silent, understands and consents; the cook and mother figure, portrayed by the captivating Rita Cabaço, who adds a light touch to an otherwise melancholic narrative; and the waitress, played by Branka Kati, pure light, a mirror in which the protagonist will finally see himself in the last part of the film. Each of them is a free woman, with personality and character, courageous and without the need to revolve around a man.

Symbolic maps, card games where desire –not money– is at stake, and families formed through acceptance, are just some of the elements in this film where people look each other in the eye and talk to each other with no screens between them. A film with a nostalgic air, yet one that moves forward with the quiet resolve of a man reborn.

Premiered in the official competition section at the last Málaga Film Festival, where it received a warm reception from critics, The Portuguese House tackles familiar themes with calm and subtlety, radiating humanism, empathy and optimism. Because all is not lost when life’s big questions come calling... for we will always have Portugal.

The Portuguese House is a Spanish-Portuguese co-production by Distinto Films, O Som e a Fúria, Jaibo Films and Almendros Blancos AIE. Its sales are managed by Bendita Film Sales.