(Recollections Of The Yellow House)
Utterly
irreverent, hilariously deadpan, Portuguese helmer João César Monteiro
("Silvestre") is destined to win a place in the hearts of
sophisticated dimgoers with "Recollections Of The Yellow House."
A work of pure
anarchy, pic traces the inconsequential ramblings of a mangy old goat (played
to a T by Monteiro himself) who goes from boarding house to mad-house and comes
back to infect the world with his nonconformism. Pic wowed Venice (winning a
Silver Lion) and should catch on elsewhere with the right launch.
João de Deus (Monteiro) is a scrawny but erudite
eccentric in-habiting a room in Manuela de Freitas' boarding house, which may
or may not have bedbugs.
He's a connoisseur of the bathwater left by the
landlady's daughter (Teresa Calado), a trumpet player. Mimi (Sabina Sacchi), a
sweet, not-too-bright girl of easy virtue, becomes his confidante and 1-shot
lover before she dies of a botched abortion. There also are cafe buddies,
a doctor who prescribes difficult remedies for
sensitive body parts and João's 70-year-old mother, a charwoman whom he still
takes money from.
More than black humor, "Yellow House" is
infested with a fatalistic view of life that's
both outrageous and exhilarating.
When João discovers the tender Mimi has just been
taken to the morgue, his first thought is to search for her savings — which he
then leaves behind when the land-lady surprises him attempting to seduce her
daughter.
Penniless and homeless, but as elegant in his manners
as ever, he dons an old army uniform and fools a number of people before being
locked up in the city asylum. Even there it's clear no walls can hold him back
for long.
Vulgar, theatrical, much too talky. "Yellow
House" captures its audience anyway. Whole cast deserves kudos, but
Monteiro (born 1939) outshines all as the old boy. Camerawork by José Antonio
Loureiro is a limpid joy; Schubert and Vivaldi have never been funnier.
Yung.
Publicado
na revista Variety , a 25- 31 de Outubro de 1989