A Passagem da Noite (2003)

Director:

Luís Filipe Rocha

Writer:

Luís Filipe Rocha (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2003 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Leonor Seixas	...	Mariana
João Ricardo	...	Vitor
João Pedro Vaz	...	Salvador
Maria João Falcão	...	Teresa
Cristovão Campos	...	Luis
Maria d'Aires	...	Maria
Pompeu José	...	José
Maria Rueff	...	Cláudia
Luisa Salgueiro	...	Celeste
Cecília Guimarães	...	Salvador's Aunt
Fernando Heitor	...	Filosophy Teacher
Paula Pedregal	...	Portuguese Teacher
Ana Bustorff	...	History Teacher
John Jesus Romão	...	Jorge
Luís Areias	...	Student

Also Known As:

Öö möödumine (Estonia) (festival title) [et]

Runtime:

Portugal:95 min

Country:

Portugal

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Sweden:11 | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating)

Company:

Madragoa Filmes

Silent & Powerful

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is one of those movies that doesn't come with big big promises of being this or that, they just creep up to you noiselessly, tell a good story, and leave you quite speechless and hunting around for a conclusion. often the result is that you begin asking for an encore, for it is hard to believe that something that you've just seen has really taken place.

Mariana is this sweet, 17-year-old, only child of working parents who are quite possessive about their daughter. The mother wouldn't let her daughter go to sleep on empty stomach. Now, this over-protected girl is, of all horrors, raped. But, just see her guts, she decides to keep silent about the entire thing. A cop offers to help her out because of a similar tragedy he has gone through, but no, Mariana won't take any help. She refuses to identify the rapist in the courtroom, becomes pregnant, contemplates abortion but drops the idea after some time, breaks up from her boyfriend because her body's been used by somebody else, and despite her school-leaving exam coming up, she decides to give birth to the child, naturally, and make that very peculiar gateway into adulthood. To hide her bulging tummy she wears over-sized clothes, puts ink-marks on sanitary pads to show that she's having her periods, and then, she delivers this sweet little girl.

What I liked most about 'A Passagem da Noite' is the power. you can't see it, for it doesn't come in the form of heavy dialogues or tense sequences. They come, yes, like I've already mentioned, noiselessly. Things up there on the screen progress like they ought to progress. You see Mariana Attending classes, going out with her friends, eating, taking a bath; you see her parents running their shop, talking to their daughter about her studies and exams; you see the cop doing his duty; things like that. However, there's this something explosive running beneath this apparently placid veneer. And this is what gives a very nail-biting element to this almost-normal-everyday-story.

It's hard to understand why Mariana chose to remain silent about her tragedy. But she has the guts, man! And the girl who plays Mariana, Leonor Seixas, is not just beautiful and fits the part, she also has this something about her face and mannerisms that makes the character of Mariana come alive. Had there been some real Mariana maybe she'd have looked like Leonor.

'A Passagem da Noite' doesn't make any promises, but it is one promising feature film for it tells the story of a girl who finds her way out of a dark and brooding night.