Pelicula, Pelikula
Spanish Film Festival
Power Plant Cinemas
You know how you occasionally tell little white lies but don't feel like you are out right lying? For instance, you text someone you have a rendez vous with that you are on your way when the truth is you just booked a Grab ride so it would take several minutes before you are actually seated in the vehicle and several minutes before you reach your destination.
This is the impression I got after I watched The Portuguese House. Things unravel for Fernando, a Spanish geography teacher when his wife of three years Milena suddenly disappears. Well not in the macabre way of vanishing but she left him and goes back to Serbia, her country. No notes, no dramatic moments of I.am.leaving.you.because.I.am.not.happy.in.Barcelona - nothing. Fernando comes home from his class and she is not home. For days, no word, no contact, no email - nothing. Although, he is disturbed, he has no way of contacting her, nor any friends to ask if they know where Milena is.
In turn, Fernando also goes off to clear his mind. He travels all the way to Northern Portugal to some quiet coastal area where he meets Manuel. They exchange stories (or as we say in the vernacular, make kwentuhan) and Manuel mentions that he has a new job as a gardener at some country estate. Unfortunately, Manuel suffers a heart attack and dies and Fernando in his stricken state decides to assume Manuel's identity and shows up at the quinta (house) owned by Amalia posing as the new gardener.
Amalia is the elegant, mysterious owner of the estate of the almond trees which she inherited from her grandmother. She too like Fernando has an identity crisis stemming from her childhood growing up during the final era of the Portuguese colonial rule in Angola. Fleeing Angola to live with her grandmother in Portugal. She has a profound crisis of belonging and painful displacement.
Perhaps I have offered way too much spoilers so I will focus on the structure of the film. It unfolds at a slow and much like Fernando at a quiet pace. From the drab monotone of Barcelona to the refreshingly rural setting of the quinta where life is calmer and more tranquil. It is the perfect setting for two individuals who are internally grappling with too much noise from their past, an ideal escape.
Just when you think the dust has finally settled, a plot twist is thrown in to shake the cobwebs away. But mind you, the plot twist is not earth shattering. It is still in tune with the calm, serene pacing of the narrative. It does certainly offer much needed closure for Manuel or Fernando. Concluding with a brigher prospective for his future and his shattered life in general. Because no one really deserves to go through this life with too much unresolved chapters and open ended questions which will haunt you incessantly. Believe me, it isn't pleasant.