THE TASTE OF CINEMA

MOMENT XXIII within the seasonal series of film projections-conversations - THE TASTE OF CINEMA - proposes to address the relationship between cinema and literature, while avoiding emphasising adaptation and the commonplace subject of the passage from the novel to the screen. This series has therefore selected a dozen films which explore multiple directions, ranging from the proposal of keys for reading a poetic work via the biographical traits traced therein - as is the case with the visual essay by Ginette Lavigne who will also attend the session – to the cinematographic-musical monument forged by the late Paulo Rocha concerning the life of the very unusual writer, Wenceslau de Moraes. The other works include Sophia, as portrayed by João César Monteiro, José Régio through the eyes of Manoel de Oliveira; the Armenian poet and musician Sayat Nova evoked by Paradjanov; the comedian Buster Keaton, as conjured up by the playwright Samuel Beckett; musing about the relationship between gods and men by the husband-and-wife team, Straub-Huillet, on the basis of the text by Cesare Pavese; Duras deconstructing herself in Aurélia Steiner and sub-dividing the latter into several characters; Saguenail multiplying the actors of the passion of Christ by the number of shots of a film; Pasolini reflecting upon images filmed in search of actors for an African Oresteia - in short, a set of unstable works in which cinema’s artisanal resources are seen as writing tools. To see and talk about. Programming: "Os Filhos de Lumière” AssociationAccess: Free entrance subject to collecting a ticket at Serralves reception.Note: Tickets are available on the day of the session.(Due to unforeseen circumstances, the programme may be subject to alterations.)

27 January"SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER ANDRESEN”, BYJOÃO CÉSAR MONTEIRO, 19', 1969, Portugal"LA BELLE JOURNÉE”, BY GINETTE LAVIGNE, 67', 2010, FranceThe director Ginette Lavigne will attended this session.
Sophia carrying the burdens of the matriarch and the robes of the poetess, as glimpsed via João César Monteiro’s malicious camera. The poet Christian Prigeant, seen via a double reading: that of his autobiographical texts by the author and Ginette Lavigne’s imagetic interpretation thereof, exposing the founding experiences of the carnal discovery of life and love.   
17 February"ROMANCE OF VILA DO CONDE” AND "O POETA LOUCO, O VITRAL E A SANTA MORTA” (THE CRAZY POET, THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW AND THE DEAD SAINT), BY MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA, 1959 and 2008, Portugal "SAYAT NOVA” (THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES), BY SERGEI PARADJANOV, 79', 1968, URSS/Armenia
José Régio, enacted by Manoel de Oliveira, in his seminal poetic relationship with Vila do Conde. The life and verses of the Armenian troubadour, Sayat Nova transported to magical frames of cinema by the filmmaker/artisan and cinematographic poet, Sergei Paradjanov: from the childhood of the famous ashik, between pigments and dyeing wool, to his transformation into a monk … 
03 March"AURELIA STEINER/MELBOURNE”, BY MARGUERITE DURAS, 28', 1979, France"QUEI LORO ENCONTRI”, BY STRAUB/HUILLET, 68', 2006, France
Melbourne is one of two film versions of the songs that comprise the triptych-text, "Aurelia Steiner". Marguerite Duras interweaves narratives, intersecting experiences of various female characters, including several moments extracted from her own life. From the last five "Dialogues with Leuco” by Cesare Pavese, the couple Straub-Huillet staged, in a forestry setting, a meditation about the situation of human beings in their relationship with the gods. 
17 March"A IMITAÇÃO” (THE IMITATION), BY SAGUENAIL, 26', 2003, Portugal"NOTES FOR AN AFRICAN ORESTEIA” BY PIER PAOLO PASOLINI, 65', 1970, Italy 
In a bar called Golgotha, Saguenail stages a passion of Christ, revisited by Malcolm Lowry, using as many extras as there are days in the year, in order to create a portrait of humanity. In search of African actors to depict the tragic trilogy of Aeschylus, Pasolini filmed this notebook, during two sojourns in Uganda and Tanzania. The film Oresteia never saw the light of day, but, in contrast, the footage recorded in Africa served as the basis for reflection by the author, who subsequently submitted the footage for appraisal by black students in the University of Rome. 
07 April"FILM” BY SAMUEL BECKETT, 20', 1965, USA "MY CASE” BY MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA, 92', 1986, France/Portugal
Beckett's only film experience - in which he resorts to Buster Keaton, the comedian who never smiled - FILM is a kind of essay about the terror of being seen and seeing, and deftly explores the art of disappointment. A film-manifesto by the maestro, Manoel de Oliveira, about the relationship between theatre and film, inspired by the play of the same name written by José Régio, fragments from Beckett and the 'Book of Job', MY CASE is also a personal testimony, a cry of outrage against the destruction of man by man, meditation on man's relationship with God, an essay on framing and depth of field, a contribution for a theory of representation, a reflection upon sound in cinema, etc.. etc.. etc.. A masterpiece and a coup de grace. 
 21 April"A ILHA DOS AMORES” (THE ISLAND OF LOVE) BY PAULO ROCHA, 170', 1982, Portugal 
An inspirational work by Paulo Rocha and his favourite actor Luís Miguel Cintra, THE ISLAND OF LOVE embraces the time, work, loves, life and death of Wenceslau de Moraes, uniting, in a single object of ineffable power, the Western romantic imaginary universe, Oriental imagery, Japanese great poetry, the vision of Camões, etc.. Built across nine cantos, the film defies any attempt at classification, combining a taste for collage and the dynamics of the Baroque. This unique work was the result of ten years of gestation, making it a sui generis example of the fusion of art and life …