MYSTERIES OF LISBON

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Raul Ruiz's magnificent adaptation of Camilo Castelo Branco's epic period melodrama is a four-and-a-half-hour extravaganza which cuts a deep swath across 19th century European history. Portugal, Italy, France, Brazil, and Spain present fertile locations for interconnecting strands of romance, war, and tragedy to tangle among the material's many characters. Screenwriter Carlos Saboga deftly handles a narrative that makes "Gone With the Wind" look like a short story by comparison.

Pedro de Silva (João Arrais) is a young illegitimate boy cast into a Lisbon Catholic boarding school overseen by Father Dinis (Adriano Luz). The back story of Pedro's identity creates a narrative hub for the overarching drama. Father Dinis proves instrumental by introducing the orphaned Pedro to his long-lost mother Angela (Maria Joao Bastos), the countess of Santa Barbara. Sadly, all is not wine and roses once mother and child are reunited. Flashbacks and sidetracking subplots shift with a breathtaking fluidity as we learn of the conspiracies, accidents, and choices that enabled Pedro to live as he does.

The Chilean-born Raul Ruiz uses the film frame as a giant canvas upon which history bleeds. Cinematographer André Szankowski conspires with art director Isabel Branco to lure the audience inside rich, mesmerizing compositions. As pivotal characters are reinvented we realize the circumstances and survival mechanisms essential to a way of life that is long forgotten. The "mysteries" of Lisbon are memories revived in a film that transports its audience back in time.

Not Rated. 257 mins.