Espelho Mágico (2005)

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writers:

Agustina Bessa-Luís (inspired by the book "A Alma dos Ricos")
Manoel de Oliveira (adaptation)

Release Date:

9 March 2006 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

Luciano, fresh out of jail, was taken by his brother, Flórido, to serve in the home of wealthy Alfreda...

Plot Keywords:

Virgin Mary | Aristocrat | Death | Mansion | Mirror

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Leonor Silveira	...	Alfreda
Ricardo Trêpa	...	José Luciano / Touro Azul
Luís Miguel Cintra	...	Filipe Quinta
Leonor Baldaque	...	Vicenta / Abril
Glória de Matos	...	Nurse Hilda
Isabel Ruth	...	Celsa Adelaide
Adelaide Teixeira	...	Queta
Diogo Dória	...	Police Comissioner
José Wallenstein	...	Américo
Maestro Atalaya	...	Prof. Oboé
P. João Marques	...	Priest Feliciano (as Padre João Marques)
Marisa Paredes	...	Monja
Michel Piccoli	...	Prof. Heschel
Lima Duarte	...	Priest Clodel
Eugénia Cunha	...	Costureira (seamstress)
João Alves	...	Noémia's daughter
Filipa de Almeida	...	Alfreda (as Filipa Almeida)
Pedro Lopes	...	Musician
Maria Castro	...	Musician
Vera Ferreira	...	Musician
Daniela Costa	...	Musician
Joana Costa	...	Musician
Duarte de Almeida	...	Bahia (Alfreda's husband)
Susana Sá	...	Noémia
Rogério Vieira	...	Warden
David Cardoso	...	Flórido

Directed by
Manoel de Oliveira

Writing credits
Agustina Bessa-Luís		(inspired by the book "A Alma dos Ricos")
Manoel de Oliveira		(adaptation and dialogue)

Produced by
Miguel Cadilhe	....	producer
Henrique Espírito Santo	....	consulting producer

Cinematography by
Renato Berta

Film Editing by
Valérie Loiseleux

Production Design by
Mónica Baldaque

Costume Design by
Arlete Campos

Makeup Department
Ana Ferreira	....	hair stylist
Emmanuelle Fèvre	....	makeup artist
Ana Maria Palma	....	key hair stylist
Iris Peleira	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Joaquim Carvalho	....	production manager
Shuki Friedman	....	production manager: second unit
Manlio Roseano	....	production manager: Italy
Teresa Sampaio	....	assistant production manager: Italy

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paulo Guilherme	....	first assistant director
Ângela Sequeira	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Júlio Alves	....	assistant art director
Fernando Areal	....	property master
Francisco M. Laranjo	....	graphic designer
Cristina Lucas	....	assistant art director
Adelaide Maria Trêpa	....	assistant art director (as Adelaide Trêpa)

Sound Department
Mikaël Barre	....	sound editor
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Eric Ferret	....	foley mixer
Christophe Gagnot	....	post-production sound
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound mixer
Ricardo Leal	....	boom operator
Henri Maïkoff	....	sound
Frank Mettre	....	sound re-recording mixer
Franck Tassel	....	assistant foley artist

Special Effects by
Sérgio Aragão	....	special effects technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Joaquim Antunes	....	key grip
Haim Asias	....	steadicam operator: Israel crew
Marco Bozzetti	....	steadicam operator: Italian crew
José Coimbra	....	machinist
Miguel Efe	....	key grip
Hugo Espirito Santo	....	electrician (as Hugo Santo)
Ariel Glikson	....	assistant steadicam operator: Israel crew
Fernando Gomes	....	key electrician
Francisco Oliveira	....	assistant camera
Francisco Oliveira	....	still photographer
Pedro Pereira	....	electrician
Jean-Paul Toraille	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Piedade Antunes	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Ana de Lurdes	....	negative cutter (as Ana de Lourdes)
Catherine Krassovsky	....	assistant editor
Loïc Lallemand	....	supervising editor
Dora Rolim	....	colorist

Music Department
Luís Carlos Atalaya	....	musician: piano
Sofia Braga	....	musician
Diogo Coelho	....	musician
Daniela Costa	....	musician
Joana Costa	....	musician
Erika Dos Santos	....	musician: violin
Vera Ferreira	....	musician
Christopher Koppits	....	musician: Oboé
Catarina Oliveira	....	musician
Ana Tojal	....	musician

Other crew
Joana Bastos	....	production assistant
Filipa Bernardo	....	production assistant
Júlia Buisel	....	script supervisor
Iftach Gabay	....	production chief: Israel crew (as Iftach Gabbay)
Dorit Kfir	....	production co-ordinator (as Dorina Kfir)
Teresa Leal	....	production assistant
Edgar Medina	....	production assistant
Raam Shaul	....	assistant production manager: Israel crew
Luís Souto	....	financial director
Marta Vaz de Sousa	....	production secretary
Nuno Vieira	....	personal assistant to director
Pedro Vieira	....	information coordinator

Production Companies

• Filbox Produções (as Filbox)
• Ministério da Cultura (with the support of) (as MC/ICA)
• Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia (ICAM) (with the support of) (as MC/ICA)
• Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) (with the support of)

Distributors

• Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2006) (Portugal) (all media)
• Les Films du Paradoxe (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Les Films du Paradoxe (2009) (France) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinearte Filmes (2006) (Brazil) (all media)
• Mikado (2006) (Italy) (all media)

Other Companies

• Automobiles Peugeot  thanks
• Câmara Municipal da Póvoa de Lanhoso  thanks
• Câmara Municipal da Póvoa de Varzim  thanks
• Câmara Municipal do Porto  thanks
• Escola de Música Artave  thanks
• Hotel Danieli  thanks (as Hotel Danieli Veneza)
• Jaguar Cars Ltd.  thanks
• José António Tenente  thanks
• Junta de Freguesia de Santo Emilião  thanks
• Mundinter  thanks
• Sport Zone  thanks
• Tobis Portuguesa  titles and opticals
• Vanessabruno  thanks

Also Known As:

"Magic Mirror" - USA (new title)
"Le miroir magique" - France
"Specchio magico" - Italy

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

Portugal

Language:

French | Spanish | Portuguese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel

Company:

Filbox Produções

Movie Connections:

Follows O Princípio da Incerteza (2002)

Soundtrack:

La Havanaise

Superb....

This was part of a 2 film retrospective (for lack of a better term) at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC of recent works by Manoel de Oliveira (the other film was The Fifth Empire-Yesterday as Today). This is the better of the two films. This one has one of the more surreal plots of any de Oliveira film. It concerns itself with a rich woman (played by Leonor Silveira, a mainstay in Manoel's films) who has a strong desire to witness the Virgin Mary. 2 con men (one of whom has been just released from jail and the other is trying to go "clean", but doesn't seem to be trying too hard) devise a scheme to milk her out of some money and hire a local girl to portray the Virgin Mary for her. The plot here is actually quite funny, and this is one of de Oliveira's most surreal, touching, and beguiling films. The performances are all first rate, and the film has a wonderful, languid pacing to it (like most of Manoel's films). There is even a strange, dreamlike scene that takes "place" in Venice. It looks like a projection mistake when I first saw it, but then realised it was supposed to look like that, it made a sort of unique sense. I was rather disappointed at the crowds for these films (there was only 10 people in the audience for Magic Mirror, only 6 for The Fifth Empire), but I stayed for the duration of both films. I'm glad I'm did. Much of Manoel's work is not on DVD, but if you get a chance to see any of his work, please do. Even his minor films (like Party) are pretty good.