A Divina Comedia (1991)
Directed by Manoel de Oliveira
Genres - Drama |
Sub-Genres - Psychological Drama, Religious Drama |
Run Time - 140 min. |
Countries - France, Portugal |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Clarke Fountain
In this symbolic and philosophically weighty film, all of the inhabitants of a Portuguese mental asylum suffer from religious delusions of one kind or another -- even the cynic who denies the value of any religions at all. One couple re-enacts the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and then the woman who played at being Eve plays at being St. Teresa de Avila. Another man thinks he's a character from a Dostoyevsky novel, and yet another claims to have in his possession a fifth gospel from the Bible. Everyone has a point of view and is not shy about stating it, defending it in debate with the others with great sincerity, though (the reviewers claimed) with very little elegance or wit.