Screenplay:
Carlos SabogaCinematography:
André SzankowskiComposer:
Jorge ArriagadaCast:
Nuno Lopes, John Malkovich, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Marcello Urgeghe, Mathieu Amalric, Soraia Chaves, Marisa Paredes, Chiara Mastroianni (more)Plots(1)
On September 27, 1810, the French troops commanded by Marshal Massena, were defeated in the Serra do Buçaco by the Anglo-Portuguese army of general Wellington. Despite the victory, Portuguese and British are forced to retreat from the enemy, numerically superior, in order to attract them to Torres Vedras, where Wellington had built fortified lines hardly surmountable. Simultaneously, the Anglo-Portuguese command organizes the evacuation of the entire territory between the battlefield and the lines of Torres Vedras, a gigantic burned land operation, which prevents the French from collecting supplies. This is the setting for the adventures of a multitude of characters from all social backgrounds - soldiers and civilians, men, women and children, young and old - to the daily routine torn by war and dragged through hills and valleys, between ruined villages, charred forests and devastated crops. Highly persecuted by the French, already tormented by an unmerciful weather, the mass of fugitives continues to move forward clenching the teeth, just to save their skin, loaded with tenacious will to resist the invaders and retreat them from their country. Or even hoping to take advantage of the disarray to satisfy their basic instincts. All of them, whatever nature or motivations - the idealistic young lieutenant Pedro de Alencar, Clarissa Warren, the malicious little english girl, the shady dealer Penabranca, the vindictive Sergeant Francisco Xavier or the lusty prostitute Martírio -, all gather by different paths to the lines of Torres, where the final battle will decide the fate of each one of them. (Leopardo Filmes)
(more)Cast
Nuno Lopes
Portugal
Best movies:
Blood of My Blood (2011)
Operação Outono (2012)
Joaquim (2017)
John Malkovich
USA
Best movies:
Of Mice and Men (1992)
L'Echange (2008)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Catherine Deneuve
France
Best movies:
Persepolis (2007)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) - a.f.
Isabelle Huppert
France
Best movies:
No Time for Breakfast (1976)
The Common Man (1975)
The Lacemaker (1977)
Marcello Urgeghe
Best movies:
Blood of My Blood (2011)
The Portuguese Woman (2018)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
Mathieu Amalric
France
Best movies:
Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Farewell, Home Sweet Home (1999)
Soraia Chaves
Portugal
Marisa Paredes
Spain
Best movies:
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
All About My Mother (1999)
Talk to Her (2002)
Chiara Mastroianni
France
Best movies:
Persepolis (2007)
Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die (1995)
Les Enfants des autres (2022)
Michel Piccoli
France
Best movies:
Un amour de pluie (1974)
May Fools (1990)
Mado (1976)
Melvil Poupaud
France
Best movies:
Laurence Anyways (2012)
An Officer and a Spy (2019)
A Summer's Tale (1996)
Vincent Lindon
France
Best movies:
Welcome (2009)
La Haine (1995)
Betty Blue (1986)
Elsa Zylberstein
France
Best movies:
Mina Tannenbaum (1994)
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
A Bag of Marbles (2017)
Jemima West
France
Best movies:
Endeavour (2012) (series)
Joan of Arc (1999) (TV movie)
Heineken : L'enlèvement (2015)
Joana de Verona
Portugal
Best movies:
Carloto Cotta
France
Best movies:
The Portuguese Nun (2009)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
Arabian Nights: Volume 3, the Enchanted One (2015)
Diogo Dória
Portugal
Best movies:
The Portuguese Nun (2009)
Abraham's Valley (1993)
No, or the Vain Glory of Command (1990)
Victória Guerra
Portugal
Best movies:
Cosmos (2015)
The Wilde Wedding (2017)
Gonçalo Waddington
Portugal
Best movies:
Filipe Vargas
Best movies:
Je m'appelle Bernadette (2011)
John From (2015)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)