An extensive showcase of the works of filmmaker João César Monteiro is set to begin in January, as announced by the distributor. Described as an “extraordinary masterpiece, fiercely free and artistically courageous,” Monteiro’s work has significantly impacted Portuguese cinema over the past fifty years.
The films will be screened from January 8 through February at several locations including Nimas Cinema in Lisbon, Teatro Campo Alegre in Porto, and other venues in Setúbal, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, and Braga. The initiative will feature nearly two dozen of Monteiro’s films, encompassing short and feature-length productions such as “Quem espera por sapatos de defunto morre descalço” (1971), “Que farei eu com esta espada” (1975), “Silvestre” (1981), “Recordações da casa amarela” (1989), “A comédia de Deus” (1998), and “Branca de Neve” (2000).
Monteiro’s accolades include the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize for “A comédia de Deus” at the Venice Film Festival.
In October, Monteiro’s cinema was the focus of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, titled “Symphonies of a Libertine.” MoMA described him as the most unclassifiable of Portuguese filmmakers, a “true libertine” who disrupted trends and definitions, focusing on the perverted mysteries of pleasure, decadence, and the poetic translation of the sublime into art.
Medeia Filmes, representing producer and exhibitor Paulo Branco, has announced further initiatives in North America, including theatrical premieres, films on DVD and BLURAY, and a book dedicated to Monteiro.
Upon Monteiro’s death on February 3, 2003, just a day after his 64th birthday, former Cinematheque director João Bénard da Costa remarked on the enduring growth of his cinema and noted the polarized responses it elicited, characterizing Monteiro as one who was “without half measures, without possibilities of reconciliation.”
