New film by Fonseca e Costa on the screens
by Vitor Pinto
Sixteen cinemas all over the country this week will screen Widow and Rich No Longer a Bitch [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which marks the much-anticipated comeback of veteran filmmaker José Fonseca e Costa, three year after O Fascínio.
Co-produced by Clap Filmes (Portugal) and Plateau Produções (Brazil) with support from ICAM, the film is set in the late 19th century and focuses on the life Ana Catarina, a rich Brazilian heir who returns to Portugal after the death of her father and first husband.
Torn between her heritage and her emotions, and allowing her fate to be manipulated by an old nanny and a local vicar who seem more fond of material business than divine matters, Ana Catarina will throughout her life marry and bury several husbands – all of whom die under mysterious circumstances.
Written by the director and Augusto Sobral, the script maintains a tone between drama and social satire, with Brazilian actress Bianca Byington leading an eclectic cast that includes actors with different artistic backgrounds and very diverse registers: Cucha Carvalheiro (as the manipulative nanny), José Raposo (the vicar), and Rogério Samora, Diogo Dória, Anton Skrzypiciel and Ricardo Pereira as the husbands-to-be.
Widow and Rich No Longer a Bitch is being released towards the end of a year in which, unlike 2005, not many local titles attracted audiences’ attention. The biggest local hit, so far, has been José Sacramento's comedy Conversa da treta (see news), which drew in nearly 250,000 admissions.
Other European films hitting the screens this week are Danièle Thompson's Orchestra Seats [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep [+see also:
trailer
film profile], both distributed by Lusomundo.
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