Vitalina Varela (2019)

Directed by: Pedro Costa | 124 minutes | drama | Actors: Vitalina Varela, Ventura, Manuel Tavares Almeida, Francisco Brito, Marina Alves Domingues, João Baptista Fortes, Nilsa Fortes, Lisa Lopi, Benvinda Mendes, Emídio Landim Monteiro, Imídio Monteiro, João Raimundo Monteiro, Bruno Brito Varela

It is the first time that she sets her (bare) foot on Portuguese soil. Vitalina Varela came to Lisbon from Cape Verde because her husband passed away. He once left for Portugal as a guest worker, but never returned. She hasn’t seen him for a long time and it turns out he’s already buried when she arrives, leaves. In his shabby little house she tries to reconstruct his life there and his end. She gets help from a priest she knows from the past and who is also a Cape Verdean immigrant. In the Portuguese capital there are entire neighborhoods where immigrants live in dire conditions in small houses, surrounded by narrow, shady, almost ghostly streets.

‘Vitalina Varela’ is a visually overwhelming film in which the beautiful use of light and shadow stands out. It is inevitable that this evokes associations with the ‘clair-obsur’ that Rembrandt used in his paintings. It’s almost like walking around in a living painting. In addition to the image, the use of sound is also special. Periods of silence alternate with scenes in which ambient noise predominates. The dialogues between in a soft tone, spoken almost in a whisper. The sung ecclesiastical rites that are sung are therefore extra hard for the viewer.

The main role is played by the non-professional actress Vitalina Varela, on whose own life the film is based. Her grief-stricken face with the sad glance is the anchor point of the film. In the main male role, Ventura can be seen as the priest. He often starred in films by director Pedro Costas. Ventura and Varela were previously seen together in ‘Cavalo Dinheiro’ (2014).

It really is a movie that you have to sit down for. There isn’t much plot development. What Vitalina tries to find out about her husband’s life is mainly clear from conversations and the pace is very slow, full of long, statically filmed shots. It takes some getting used to that the film mainly revolves around tightly directed scenes full of everyday actions, supplemented with moments when the characters talk past each other, instead of with each other. The only ‘action’ in the film is that the priest stands unsteadily on his feet and occasionally falls over. In short: it is a film for gourmets and above all a visual spectacle in which the fantastic camera work of Leonardo Simões carries the film.

‘Vitalina Varela’ has won many awards at international film festivals, with the film itself being recognized as director Costas, cinematographer Simões and actress Varela.