Porto of my childhood / Porto da minha infancia, 2001

Porto of my childhood / Porto da minha infancia, 2001
Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Cast: Jorge Trepa, Ricardo Trepa, Maria de Medeiros




Stage: Kinoteka / official stage of Life festival, one of the eldest theatres of Ljubljana

Porto in short: It's a movie about seeking of the lost time. The director in fragments of memories, statements from still living citizen, photos and old song lyrics, makes an image of his city of birth - Porto, which is also the cradle of portuguese cinematography.




Preps: I love movies about cities, however they need to be embedded into a story for me to like them. I am not sure about this one, but it drags my interest as I see the plot.

Reality: Hm.. the scenery is amazing, reminds me somehow of the Buena Vista Social Club approach. However, no such music and no real life in the movie - in sense of cast. If you want a documentary, you have it in its wholeness in this piece. Seeing comparison between the town as it used to be and the way it is now, is impressive. I would be more impressed, if the director had the will and power to combine this comparison with a strong story. I have seen a lot of movies on the topic and am aware how good it can be and how it can drive masses to see such a movie and be amazed beyond belief. However, this piece in my opinion, doesn't show this. It merely focuses on the scene and virtual comparison between present and past status of familiar places, people, placements, as the director remembered it. Kind of like a diary, when you try to open it after 20 years and laugh about the naiveness you posessed so many years ago.

I think it will bring an interesting insight to all those that want to explore historical roots of a town like this. But in my opinion, nothing more. And nothing less. It shows beautiful places one should definitely go to when visiting Porto. Like a monument in cinemography, dedicated to this town. A nice gesture. But not a great movie to my senses and in my opinion.


My personal rating:5,0 (for the sake of beautiful scenery and tries of comparisons.. )


Porto of my childhood on IMDB

Porto mojega otroštva je film o iskanju izgubljenega časa. Režiser z drobci spominov, pričevanj, fotografij in besedil starih pesmi stke podobo svojega rojstnega Porta, ki je tudi zibelka portugalske kinematografije.

S pomočjo starih fotografij in rekonstruiranih arhivskih posnetkov režiser gledalcu ponudi slikovit portret mesta, ujetega med starim in novim. Večino krajev, ki so zaznamovali njegovo otroštvo, je izginilo. Bordeli in kavarne, kjer se je srečeval s svojimi prijatelji, so že davno zaprli svoja vrata. Celo od hiše, v kateri je odraščal, so ostale le ruševine. Z mojstrskim prepletanjem fikcije in dokumentarca je Oliveira obudil utrip mesta v dvajsetih in tridesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja.