1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,198 A film by 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,038 OPORTO OF MY CHILDHOOD "To my children" 3 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,310 Producer 4 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,470 Director and voice off 5 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,196 To recall moments from a distant past is to travel out of time 6 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,800 Only each person's memory can do this. It is what I shall try to do. 7 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,597 This is nothing more than the ghost of the house where I was born. 8 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:58,954 A fatal ruin, a final vision, with nothing surprising for anyone... 9 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,554 But to one for whom it was the cradle in which he grew up, 10 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,638 where he became aware of himself and of the world, 11 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,516 a painful longing remains in his soul. 12 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,995 Oh, how many years ago Did I depart in tears 13 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,750 From my cosy Caring home 14 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:24,114 Twenty, Thirty? Do I not even know when 15 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,069 My old nanny You who are watching me 16 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,876 Sing me songs So I may remember 17 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,637 I have been around the world I have been around life 18 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,635 I only found cheating Deception, sorrow 19 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,475 Oh! How disillusioned Is the innocent soul 20 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,435 My old nanny With your doleful voice 21 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,559 Sing me songs To set me to sleep 22 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,828 In front of the proud house there rose three leafy lindens, 23 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,115 the protectors of a beautiful garden, the Eden of my boyhood. 24 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,430 My heart is broken With bitterness 25 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,514 See what deep pain lies In my misty gaze 26 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,389 Oh, had I never left My narrow nest 27 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,395 My old nanny Sing me songs 28 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,953 Sing me songs To lull me to sleep 29 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:31,917 From high up at the windows one enjoyed a vast view of the city. 30 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,268 God once gave me in The down of the nest 31 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,751 Precious stones from stars Gems of moonlight 32 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,669 See, I have been robbed of Everything along the way 33 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,435 My old nanny I am a wretched poor man 34 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,514 Sing me songs To make me cry 35 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,677 Like once before In the beloved lap 36 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,077 I am dying, dying Let me rest! 37 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,710 Oh, how your little boy Has changed 38 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,873 My old nanny How he has changed 39 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,399 Sing him songs to sleep To dream 40 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,950 Sing me songs, softly So, so softly 41 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,079 Sad, so sad Like the sea at night 42 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,835 Sing me songs to see If I can manage 43 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,233 To make my soul sleep Be at peace, at rest 44 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,070 When soon Death Comes to take it from me 45 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:43,315 Once, a long time ago, there was only one birth there, mine, 46 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,719 there was only one death there, that of my father. 47 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,952 The years have passed and the times have changed. 48 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,432 Everything has been taken, everything has been forgotten. 49 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,118 It only remains alive in my sad memory. 50 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:12,634 "Eu sou toureiro, toureador Bandarilheiro, farpeador..." 51 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,679 My parents had a season ticket to the opera, 52 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,759 and had another box at the Sá da Bandeira Theatre. 53 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,392 I remember this scene from the operetta Miss Diabo, 54 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,828 by the distinguished Oporto authors Arnaldo Leite and Carvalho Barbosa, 55 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,358 just as I saw it from box number 16. 56 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:34,673 Hands up! 57 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,272 - Hands up! - And the step backwards... 58 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,352 I fell in like a duck! 59 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:44,274 Hands up! 60 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,719 Okay Madame! You'd better point that away, 61 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,433 it might be loaded 62 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,515 and I don't want to march off to the angels... 63 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,198 Would you like one, Madame? 64 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,591 Don't worry, Madame, this won't kill anyone from a distance. 65 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:05,233 This is a real good smoke! 66 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,039 Put that thing away and let me suck this beauty in peace. 67 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,272 That tool wasn't made for lady's fingers... 68 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,159 Put that down! 69 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:23,953 Will you put it down or not? 70 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,593 Who lives here? 71 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,558 My father, the servants and me. 72 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,395 And the dog that almost ruined my trousers... 73 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,512 What now? Are you going to call the police? 74 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,276 No, I'm not. 75 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,196 In fact I thank you for coming. I have finally seen a... 76 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:57,192 A thief? You can say it. I don't stand on ceremony... 77 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,639 But, what's this? Bravo, we have music! 78 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,993 - Do you play? - I scratch a little. It's obligatory. 79 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:19,432 I was born in the Moorish Quarter. 80 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:31,872 Criminal hands Sad rejected hands 81 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,274 Capricious Desolate 82 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,560 Hands of hunger And bitterness 83 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:45,278 Criminal hands Sad rejected hands 84 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,469 Capricious Desolate 85 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,680 Hands of hunger And bitterness 86 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:54,989 Hands of Fado singers 87 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,875 Who never sought A sweet kiss from you 88 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:04,435 Hands to whom I give All my impure life 89 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:10,513 Chilly hands Poor, frightened hands 90 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:16,873 Foreboding, aching hands Now weary of suffering 91 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:19,796 Hands of wretchedness 92 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,834 That sob out a Fado song On the guitar... 93 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:30,037 Hands that freeze And that Death will forget 94 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,478 I remember the Hanging Tree, 95 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,076 which at the time existed in the Cordoaria Gardens. 96 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,196 And I used to ask whether thieves were also hanged there. 97 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:43,279 I never got an answer. 98 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,838 I was afraid. And in the dark night, seized by fear, 99 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,349 I found security in hearing the horse guard go by. 100 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,958 I don't know whether it was to chase away my fear of thieves 101 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,074 or through a desire to travel through the deserted streets at night, 102 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,989 I asked if we could take the long way home. 103 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,909 My mother indulged me in my whim, 104 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,835 and told the chauffeur to do so. 105 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,112 The chauffeur's name was... 106 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,278 Lamas. The chauffeur was called Lamas. 107 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,677 Lamas, that's it! His name was Lamas! 108 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,674 This is the street were my long-gone house used to exist. 109 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:59,997 It is named the 9th of July, because, on the 9th of July 1832, 110 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,749 King Dom Pedro IV's troops came along this street, 111 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,635 having disembarked on Mindelo Beach on the previous day. 112 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,840 This is King Dom Pedro IV, the Liberator, 113 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,033 who left his heart to Oporto, 114 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,432 the City that was the birthplace of the Liberty of the Nation. 115 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,509 Almeida Garrett, a poet and a liberal from Oporto, 116 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,716 disembarked with King Don Pedro's troops. And he sang like this. 117 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,552 "When I dreamt, it was like this That I saw it in my dream 118 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,956 "It was like this that the fleeting 119 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,193 "Image that I could never reach Would flee from me 120 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,991 "Now that I am awake, Now that I see it stare... 121 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,712 "What for? When it was vague, An idea, a thought, 122 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,034 "An uncertain shine of star In an immense firmament, 123 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:30,193 "Achimera, a vain dream I dreamt, but I lived 124 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:37,396 "I knew not what pleasure was But pain, I felt it not..." 125 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,714 With my head pressed against the glass of one of those windows, 126 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,919 looking at the city, I sometimes thought of the beggars 127 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:50,998 who asked for alms outside Sunday Mass, 128 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,553 and I saw myself with my hand outstretched like them, 129 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,153 next to my mother. 130 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:08,153 And I saw myself as naturally as I had seen the actors in the theatre. 131 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,149 I also heard of someone 132 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:19,076 who had fallen into disgrace and wretchedness. And I thought... 133 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,428 What if a similar misfortune befalls us? 134 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,311 I added a thousand other possible misfortunes, 135 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,553 which clouded my mind like breath on the glass. 136 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,034 And then I thought that I could perhaps 137 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,919 work as an apprentice stonemason. 138 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,871 It was a tradition passed down from father to son. 139 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,237 I liked to watch them work. 140 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:51,438 But could I do it? I still remember the song they hummed, 141 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:53,910 when they were dragging a large stone 142 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,391 and they moved it with long iron poles, 143 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:04,474 two men on each side, as if rowing rhythmically. 144 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,632 Stone... oh! Stone... hey! 145 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,432 Stone... oh! Stone... hey! 146 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:16,755 The profession of these honest stonemasons, 147 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:18,632 as humble as it is noble. 148 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,472 In those days all the houses were built of stone. 149 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,477 A beautiful tradition that is now lost, 150 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:29,390 as can be seen in the old houses and palaces, 151 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,437 and in what remains of the old wall around the city. 152 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,517 As sweet-toothed as I was, when they used to take me 153 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:45,472 to the confectioner's shops in the afternoon, 154 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,877 I used to hide, hoping to be left behind, 155 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,397 and to be able to enjoy all those pastries. 156 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,714 The Confeitaria Oliveira a cake-shop was my favourite 157 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,430 and was considered to be the most chic. 158 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,269 But I wasn't attracted by the luxury... 159 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,430 - It was the pastries! - It was the pastries. 160 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,678 There were the "babás" and others. 161 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,239 But the puff pastries with egg-paste filling, 162 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,268 the ones they called "cocós" those were really good. 163 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,272 Those pastries are delicious! 164 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,557 But the cake-shop disappeared, and the cakes went with it. 165 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,752 This is it today. 166 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:49,072 I'm just remembering a curious episode I witnessed. 167 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:41,000 At that time the tradition was 168 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,479 At that time the tradition was 169 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,188 to have two exhibitions at the Crystal Palace, 170 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,000 the Motor Show and the Flower Show. 171 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,957 Because of their similarity and being stopped at rest, 172 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:06,350 this is certainly the poets Fernando Pessoa, on the left, and José Régio. 173 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,117 Another tradition was the after-dinner stroll, 174 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,916 a back and forth along the Avenida das Tilias, 175 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,717 where it was chic for the society ladies 176 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,355 to show off their dresses in the latest fashions. 177 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,349 There were some houses opposite the Crystal Palace gardens. 178 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,637 In one of them, which belonged to my uncle Casimiro, 179 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,630 I stayed along with brother, his godson, 180 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,955 living with my cousins while my parents travelled abroad. 181 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,919 - My cousins were... - António and his sisters... 182 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,315 Virgínia, 183 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:01,436 Alice, 184 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:02,595 Amélia, 185 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:03,795 Maria, 186 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:05,439 Guilhermina, 187 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:06,595 and Helena. 188 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:08,358 Of the three youngest ones, 189 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,994 the ones closest to my age, 190 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,550 the most romantic was Guilhermina, 191 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:16,991 and we were sweethearts. 192 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,037 At night I used to go upstairs to meet her, 193 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,040 careful not to wake anyone. 194 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,595 These were our very green years and, 195 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:47,157 with the innocence of children, we would exchange a pure kiss... 196 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:51,155 Careful! 197 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,548 And immediately run off in fright to our respective bedrooms, 198 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:10,315 carrying with us the delight of that sweet and innocent adventure. 199 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,791 Time passed. Guilhermina disappeared forever, 200 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,357 with tuberculosis, like her brother. The houses are now different, 201 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,997 only the memory of the brief encounter has remained. 202 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,315 And in this old Crystal Palace 203 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,429 they continued to have a Motor Show every autumn. 204 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,270 We were in 1922, 205 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,349 the date of the Lisbon-Rio Atlantic crossing 206 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,791 for the first time in the history of aviation, 207 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:58,151 with the sextant of Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral flying this plane. 208 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:09,597 Somewhat later on 209 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,957 a branch of the Confeitaria Oliveira opened here 210 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,760 in the Rua 31 de Janeiro, 211 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,788 the date commemorating the Oporto Movement, 212 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:24,949 the first attempt to set up a republic in Portugal. 213 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,434 The shop window was protected by a thick yellow metal rail, 214 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,269 against which certain bohemians used to lean in the afternoon... 215 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,593 bohemians who were... raffinés. - Raffinés... and a little pedantic! 216 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,276 Raffiné... was Joel, with his monocle. 217 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:49,829 And Diogo, who always came along in uniform 218 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,116 and acting like a lady-killer. 219 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,075 The youngest one, Chico, had a certain blasé air. 220 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:02,072 - Blasé... Very blasé... - We nicknamed him "Fantasias". 221 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,278 Fantasias thought it was of no interest 222 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,756 to carry on living after the age of forty. 223 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,117 I think it is really inelegant for a man to let himself grow old. 224 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,113 Longevity was shorter in those days, 225 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,631 and forty was a ripe old age. 226 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,349 That's what you say, but you don't know why you say it. 227 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,109 - Oh, yeah? I say what I feel. - But you don't know what you feel. 228 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:30,839 And you do? 229 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,639 - I think there is a reason. - You think so? Well explain it. 230 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,752 It's simple. Men like women, don't they? 231 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,434 And women like men, don't they? 232 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,796 I think we've understood that! 233 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,396 Before there used to be the androgen, 234 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:57,756 which included the masculine and the feminine. 235 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,078 They were happy! 236 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,475 So? What do you mean by that? 237 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,149 That when they were together they didn't have to look for each other. 238 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:12,919 How dull... 239 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,798 You think it's dull? That's the way it was. 240 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,273 And from this union the masculine came out on one side 241 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,396 and the feminine on the other. 242 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,234 That's where the expression 'soul mate' comes from. 243 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,159 Yes, I like the soul mate bit. 244 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,718 Well, what Fantasias wants is to bring the two parts together... 245 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,630 That's what we all want! 246 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:44,748 Exactly. 247 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,751 And so, what Fantasias is afraid of is that when he reaches forty 248 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,359 he will lose strength. 249 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,598 Lose his power of attraction over women. 250 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,677 But has anyone ever heard you say you would kill yourself at forty? 251 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,599 I don't have to... I'll never get there... 252 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:12,114 Prettier and prettier! 253 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:18,919 It was extravagances like this that attracted the younger boys like me. 254 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:20,912 They would tell tales of scandals... 255 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,392 Shocking things that aroused our imagination. 256 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,879 Today's youth is rather different 257 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,030 and the metal rail on which those bohemians used to lean 258 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:36,559 no longer exists. 259 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:39,717 Today, it is this. 260 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:55,636 I fell into the bohemian lifestyle early. 261 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,590 I started frequenting nightclubs here, at the Palace, 262 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,799 the largest and most popular one. 263 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,837 From the Palace we went on to the Clube do Porto, 264 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,233 which was smaller and more refined. 265 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,759 Here there was the Primavera, which was more popular, 266 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:23,552 and which always acted as a last resort to find an available lady. 267 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:01,634 Have a seat. 268 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,391 Girl, come here. Have a seat. 269 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,388 - Get your paws off... rascal! - Don't be coy, sit down here... 270 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,791 Will you let go or do you want trouble? 271 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,479 Hello, sharp guy! The lady whore has an owner! 272 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,313 - To each its own, my friend! - Now you're talking! 273 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,832 - There goes the merchandise. - It's a little difficult today. 274 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,192 Be careful. This is full of pimps today. 275 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,398 So I see, so I see... It's a little difficult today. 276 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:57,712 Tell her to sit down here. 277 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,398 Sit down here with us... 278 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:03,756 I'm promised to another guy. 279 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:07,316 I've got to go... 280 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,190 Shame... A great shame! 281 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:18,672 Some other night... When I come. And you come too. Cutie... 282 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:36,118 Don't pay any attention to these lads. 283 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,600 They just want free rides. 284 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:42,548 They're nice. 285 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,389 Nice? But they won't give you anything! 286 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,114 It doesn't matter. They're nice. 287 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:53,279 What about me? 288 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,912 You? My darling! You give me great comfort. 289 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,360 - Cod. - Squid. 290 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,311 Women pay no attention to us. 291 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:25,511 We have to become philosophers. 292 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,836 Women, always women. 293 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,350 An American woman scandalizes feminist society 294 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,315 because she preaches a return to the home 295 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,075 and to the minute details of correct upbringing. 296 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:44,077 How to behave at table and to say thank you. 297 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,759 Jesus never washed his hands before eating, 298 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,317 which surely did not go unnoticed by the highborn disciples. 299 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:55,510 It wouldn't be Peter, the fisherman, 300 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,911 who would notice his Master's lack of etiquette. 301 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:04,271 The fact is that nowadays women move in a difficult terrain, 302 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,432 having to opt for children or a career. 303 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,753 They eat badly, do their hair to appear on television, 304 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,555 and hardly look in the mirror in order to look at their watches. 305 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:21,952 It is extraordinary how a watch outdoes a pearl necklace. 306 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,149 In a few years women will have to choose 307 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,909 between the kindergarten teacher, the technician in a company, 308 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,317 workshop or laboratory, and the geisha. 309 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,429 A geisha also needs a university degree. 310 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,677 She knows about music and books, she reads Espinosa, 311 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:58,272 consults the dictionary, personally knows Valentino 312 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,037 and has an apartment in Ille de France 313 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:04,635 with a view over the Bois de Bologne. 314 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,277 She does not go on cruises to the Caribbean or to Tahiti, 315 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,919 she bets on the horses and, above all, 316 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:16,758 she stopped playing golf since it became a way 317 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,039 for the bourgeois to keep their names and feet clean. 318 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,150 The geisha may be sixty years old and be magnificent. 319 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,638 She has many admirers and very few lovers. 320 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,273 Men are proud of her, confide their secrets in her, 321 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:38,472 and do not expect her to undress or to cut up the meat on their plates. 322 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,797 The geisha is a misdemeanour of democracy, 323 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,798 but without misdemeanours there is no culture, so there you have it. 324 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,031 Other times I used to come here with Adolfo Casais Monteiro, 325 00:35:54,360 --> 00:36:02,040 who I met before he had published his poems, 'Confusao', in 1929, 326 00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:06,280 and his companion Rodrigues de Freitas, 327 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,552 the author of the short story 'Meninos Milionários', 328 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,310 which would later inspire me for my film 'Aniki-Bobó'. 329 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,039 This is where the Café Central used to exist, 330 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:23,235 where I used to meet with Casais and Freitas, university students, 331 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:27,759 and with others, some of whom were students of fine arts, 332 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,793 like Boaventura Porfirio, 333 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:32,957 Camarinha, Augusto Gomes, 334 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,630 Alvarez, and the architect Januário Godinho. 335 00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:41,076 The group was more visionary than political, 336 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,510 and was not welcomed by the regime. 337 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:46,598 It also included philosophers and poets, 338 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,635 with a natural propensity towards ascending to the sublime. 339 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,316 From the Central we moved on to the Café Majestic, 340 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,555 a magnificent work of the ornamentation of the twenties 341 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,234 by the architect Joao Queiróz. 342 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,792 The Café Majestic was fashionable then, and is so again today, 343 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:14,079 now conserved just as is was when it opened. 344 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,516 We used to get together in this corner and, 345 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,593 on other occasions and at other times of day, 346 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,118 I would come here on my own. And here I withdrew 347 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,638 to write almost the whole plan for a film, 'Gigantes Do Douro', 348 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,633 that I was stupidly not allowed to make 349 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,878 because it showed the effort carried out by workers 350 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,675 to transform the steep slopes into terraces, 351 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,269 and afterwards planting and cultivating the vines, 352 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:50,680 up to the extracting of the precious nectar that is our Port Wine. 353 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:52,958 Times that have now gone, 354 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,072 but which have left forgotten a work that was unique, 355 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,558 difficult and cruel, and today is done by machines. 356 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:05,232 This was in 1934. 357 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,270 We ended up in the Café Palladium, 358 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,035 located on the ground floor of this remarkable building, 359 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,676 the Grandes Armazéns Nascimento, 360 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:20,430 the work of the great architect Marques da Silva. 361 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,599 Very late on certain nights, 362 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:28,311 we liked to wander through the dark alleys of the old city. 363 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,119 Besides me there were Casais, 364 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,472 Rodrigues de Freitas and António Silva. 365 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:45,471 We would stroll through the alleys, giving free rein to our imagination. 366 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,320 Casais Monteiro, a humanist poet, 367 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,916 was arrested and persecuted by the regime. 368 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:59,073 He ended up taking refuge in Brazil. 369 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,113 The years went by 370 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,949 and his exile reminded me of the figure of the Desterrado. 371 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,559 Soares dos Reis, the sculptor, committed suicide, 372 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:11,871 when he felt insulted by the accusation 373 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,670 that he had plagiarized Rodin's The Thinker. An unjust accusation. 374 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,636 What the 'Desterrado' expresses is longing. 375 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:26,154 And it seems to hold, in its hands crossed and resting on its knees, 376 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,274 the deep sadness coming down from its face. 377 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,513 Adolfo Casais Monteiro died in exile. 378 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:36,916 His bitterness towards his homeland 379 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,674 and the despondency he received from Europe 380 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:41,757 were overshadowed by hopefulness, 381 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,633 as is shown in his long poem 'Europe', 382 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:49,476 broadcast by the BBC in London in 1945. 383 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:53,679 "Europe, without future Europe, morning to come 384 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:59,717 Frontiers with no guard dogs Gates left open 385 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,873 Europe without the suffering Dragging their rags 386 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:05,196 Will you come one day? Will there come the day 387 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,590 On which you are reborn purified? 388 00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:12,836 Will you one day be The common home 389 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,873 Of those who were born On your devastated soil? 390 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,957 Will you rise, phoenix, Out of the ashes 391 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,549 In which, false grandeur, Burns 392 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,917 The glory that your peoples Dreamt themselves 393 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,072 Each in wanting all of you? 394 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,557 Europe, future dream If one day it ever comes! 395 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:44,514 Europe who did not know How to hear in the depth of time 396 00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:46,676 The voice in darkness crying 397 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:51,032 That your grandeur was not In only being prodigious of spirit 398 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,920 If avaricious of bread! 399 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:55,678 Your grandeur was made 400 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,270 By those who never asked What race they served 401 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,797 Your glory was won By hands that in freedom molded 402 00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:07,556 Your unshackled body In an ever to be achieved dream 403 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:12,276 Europe, oh world to create! Europe, oh dream to come 404 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:15,472 Before descend to earth 405 00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:18,553 The voices that have molded Your ideal figure 406 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,360 Europe, unraised dream, 407 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,314 Until the day on which falls Your spirit over the waters 408 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:29,434 Europe without the suffering Dragging their rags 409 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,195 Will you come one day? Will there come the day 410 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:34,510 On which you are reborn purified? 411 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,234 Will you one day Be the common home 412 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,635 Of those who were born On your devastated soil? 413 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,480 Will you rise, phoenix, Out of the ashes 414 00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:44,676 Of your divided body? 415 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,196 Europe, you will only come When among nations 416 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,000 Hate does not have The last word 417 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:53,754 Hate is not guided By the avaricious hand 418 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,310 The hand is not made bold 419 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:00,348 By the empty sound Of the burying of the coffers 420 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,551 Digesting the blood of the flock 421 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:08,280 Of the flock killed in daylight The man you dreamt, Europe 422 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:09,873 Be life! 423 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:15,912 Oh dead civilization! No more your rotten blood! 424 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,955 Stiff, parched corpse, To the grave, to the grave! 425 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,915 Yes to your new song! Purified 426 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:25,912 Your name Europe 427 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:29,990 The evil you were Redeemed 428 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:32,310 The good you gave Shared! 429 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,677 There goes the corpse adorned In speeches 430 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:40,192 Blooming with wounds With pus, with repulsion... 431 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,477 A corpse adorned by frontier wars 432 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:48,476 Fiction to serve The dream of violence 433 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:52,989 Masks of ideal Covering old rage 434 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,670 Go, corpse covered in crimes 435 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:03,954 For the restless gravediggers Find the whole earth little 436 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,233 No blood is enough for them! 437 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,989 On the corpse your gravediggers Dance their dance 438 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:20,430 Black foreboding crows Suck your wretched blood 439 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,839 The more the blood The more they dance 440 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,595 And you are carried You perform 441 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:33,877 The steps of your Funeral dance 442 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,230 But from the blood You will be born 443 00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:42,349 Or never again Europe of the future! 444 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,070 And the hand to stop you On the brink of the abyss 445 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,273 Will be born of the blood! 446 00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:53,196 And the arms to defend Your tomorrow 447 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,871 Will be born of the blood! 448 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:57,917 The blood will teach 449 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,076 Or a new, greater slavery 450 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:04,438 Will bring mourning To your fields sown 451 00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:06,790 With gallows and tyrants 452 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:11,589 You will cleanse of blood Your tormented body 453 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,957 And, phoenix, you shall live". 454 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,835 Exiled like Casais, under different circumstances 455 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:25,679 was Agostinho da Silva, another illustrious figure from Oporto. 456 00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:36,268 We would go down to the river and hold discussions 457 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:39,751 like the crossed iron beams held up the bridge. 458 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:43,396 Or we would remember the 'Douro Faina Fluvial'. 459 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:44,118 This is where I wrote that film, 460 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,038 the first that I directed. 461 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,911 A passion that stole me from sport, 462 00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,512 just as the latter stole me from the bohemian life. 463 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:57,879 From passion to passion I became the filmmaker I am today 464 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:00,076 and that I will be to the end. 465 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:04,991 In this house I wrote and imagined many films that I could not direct. 466 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,837 In this garage, which was the garage of my house, 467 00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:14,554 turned with António Mendes into an impromptu laboratory, 468 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:17,075 we developed most of the negative. 469 00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:21,757 In order to save money I did the editing by hand, 470 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:24,190 directly over the negative, 471 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:28,679 with these rolls around the billiard table in the house 472 00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:32,749 that saw the birth of both myself and my first film. 473 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:34,628 Thanks to the cinema, 474 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,792 we can see these bits over and over again. 475 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,356 But only each person's memory can recall things 476 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,478 that only we did live through. 477 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,591 And is doing so not the best way of showing who we are? 478 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,037 But many of my memories, in going back into the past, 479 00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:55,959 have been lost and today are entombed, 480 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,794 just as this ruin has been entombed... 481 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:02,829 Oh, how many years ago Did I depart in tears 482 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,717 From my cosy, caring home 483 00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:11,195 Twenty? Thirty? Do I not even know when 484 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,712 My old nanny, You who are watching me... 485 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:20,955 On other occasions we would recall Paz dos Reis, 486 00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:26,710 and would think about the Camisaria Confianca shirt-makers, 487 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:28,837 in the Rua de Santa Catarina. 488 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:32,072 Saint Catherine, patron saint of the seamstresses, 489 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:36,871 who were the unknowing performers in the first Portuguese picture. 490 00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:38,877 In those days the showing of films was improvised in sheds. 491 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:43,034 Only much later was there the building of the first cinema, 492 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,829 the 'Cinema High-Life'. 493 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,753 A bell used to ring to warn the audience, 494 00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:52,351 "Ring-ring, ring-ring". 495 00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:55,717 When it stopped, it meant that the film had started. 496 00:48:56,920 --> 00:49:01,550 During the film, when the bad guy would hide behind the door, 497 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:05,794 there was always someone in the stalls that would warn the hero, 498 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:09,879 shouting. "Don't go in, the guy's behind the door..." 499 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,995 Today it is this modern building, the 'Cinema Batalha', 500 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:20,030 built on the site of the former 'High-Life'. 501 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:25,151 So the 'Batalha', conserved by the City Council, 502 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:29,918 remains as the historical bastion of the cinema here in Oporto. 503 00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:34,709 And as we have turned to the first page of Portuguese cinema, 504 00:49:35,240 --> 00:49:37,549 let us work some magic 505 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:44,312 and have Paz dos Reis filming the workers leaving their workplace, 506 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:48,470 at 'Oporto 2001, European Capital of Culture. 507 00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:56,595 The city is being renewed, 508 00:49:56,840 --> 00:49:58,717 but no matter how much it is changed 509 00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,758 it will always be my childhood Oporto 510 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:05,476 with a gold stream running at its feet. 511 00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:18,398 "Do you want to play with me?" 512 00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:33,951 Like once before In the beloved lap 513 00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:37,318 I am dying, dying Let me rest 514 00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:40,872 Oh, how your little boy Has changed 515 00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:45,228 My old nanny How he has changed 516 00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:49,555 Sing him songs to sleep To dream 517 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,992 Sing me songs, softly So, so softly 518 00:54:53,440 --> 00:54:56,989 Sad, so sad Like the sea at night 519 00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:01,514 Sing me songs to see If I can manage 520 00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,158 To make my soul sleep Be at peace, at rest 521 00:55:06,520 --> 00:55:10,229 When soon Death Comes to take it from me 522 00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:32,555 Translation David Alan Prescott 523 00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:36,998 Spotting Margarida Silva Dias