This is one of the first political satires by a Portuguese director (Antonio Victorino D'Almeida) after the 1974 coup that overthrew Salazar. Among the director's targets is a member of Salazar's secret police who is neurotic about stepping in doggie-do. D'Almeida also gives a drubbing to a family that symbolizes the ruling elite: the patriarch has a non-job as a member of parliament. The sons in the family range from the propaganda-spouting youngest, who may not understand what Marx is about, to the skirt-chasing eldest who is obsessed with seducing the housemaid. Religion and Salazar's puritanical posturing also take hits. The title of this film has connotations of "guilt" and "blame" which do not necessarily come across in the weaker English translation of "fault."
by Eleanor Mannikka
synopsis
