1h 35min | Comedy, Drama | 2 October 1996 (France)
The battle of the sexes? The forces of despair and seduction? On S. Miguel in the Azores, Rogério, a young man with old money, and his enigmatic wife Leonor host a garden party at their ... See full summary »
Manoel de Oliveira (scenario), Agustina Bessa-Luís (dialogue) | 1 more credit »
Michel Piccoli, Irene Papas, Leonor Silveira | See full cast & crew »
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Title: Party (1996)
Manoel de Oliveira 1908-2015
A Caixa (1994)
Stories of various individuals living in a poor district of Lisbon are intertwined with the sad life of a blind street vendor whose only means of support is his elm box.
Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Stars: Luís Miguel Cintra, Glicínia Quartin, Ruy de Carvalho
Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1997)
Biography | Drama
Manoel is aging film director who travels with the film crew through Portugal in search of the origins of Afonso, a famous French actor whose father emigrated from Portugal to France and in... See full summary »
Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Jean-Yves Gautier, Leonor Silveira
Abraham's Valley (1993)
Ema is a very attractive but innocent girl, so pretty that cars crash in her presence. Young marries Dr. Carlo Paiva, who she is not attracted to, but is her father's friend. They move to ... See full summary »
Stars: Leonor Silveira, Cécile Sanz de Alba, Luís Miguel Cintra
A Divina Comédia (1991)
Patients in a mental institution see themselves as Adam and Eve, Sonia and Raskolnikov, a Philosopher and a Prophet, Alyosha and Ivan Karamazov, Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary and St Teresa of Avila.
Stars: Maria de Medeiros, Miguel Guilherme, Luís Miguel Cintra
Os Canibais (1988)
Musical | Drama | Fantasy
A drama following stories of characters from the Portuguese High Society.
Stars: Luís Miguel Cintra, Leonor Silveira, Diogo Dória
The Convent (1995)
The journey of Michael Padovic, an American professor who arrives with his wife, Helene, at a Portuguese convent where he expects to find the documents needed to prove his theory: ... See full summary »
Stars: Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, Luís Miguel Cintra
La lettre (1999)
A well-bred, lovely, spiritual, sad young woman marries an attentive physician who loves her. She feels affection but no love. Soon after, without design, she falls in love with Pedro ... See full summary »
Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Pedro Abrunhosa, Antoine Chappey
Anxiety (1998)
Stars: Luís Miguel Cintra, José Pinto, Isabel Ruth
I'm Going Home (2001)
The comfortable daily routines of aging Parisian actor Gilbert Valence, 76, are suddenly shaken when he learns that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in a car crash. ... See full summary »
Stars: Michel Piccoli, Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich
Gebo et l'ombre (2012)
Set in the late 19th century, about a honored but poor patriarch who sacrifices himself to protect his fugitive son.
Stars: Michael Lonsdale, Claudia Cardinale, Jeanne Moreau
A Talking Picture (2003)
Comedy | Drama | History
Lisbon, Marseilles, Naples, Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Aden, and Bombay. Along with a university teacher and her little daughter, we embark on a long journey, experiencing different cultures and civilizations.
Stars: Leonor Silveira, Filipa de Almeida, John Malkovich
Magic Mirror (2005)
Drama | Music
Luciano, fresh out of jail, was taken by his brother, Flórido, to serve in the home of wealthy Alfreda. He was surprised when she told him that her greatest desire was to see the Virgin ... See full summary »
Stars: Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trêpa, Luís Miguel Cintra
Michel Piccoli ... Michel
Irene Papas ... Irene
Leonor Silveira ... Leonor
Rogério Samora ... Rogério
Sofia Alves ... Rapariga
The battle of the sexes? The forces of despair and seduction? On S. Miguel in the Azores, Rogério, a young man with old money, and his enigmatic wife Leonor host a garden party at their villa. The intriguing guests are an older unmarried couple, the philosophical and observant Irene, and Michel, a roué. While Rogério and Irene talk, Michel and Leonor go down to the sea. The conversations upset Rogério and capture Leonor's imagination. Five years later, the four dine at the villa. Michel and Leonor again leave the other two. Intentions and undercurrents are subtle. One of the four proves strong, one weak, and two must choose. Wind and rain bring down the curtain on both acts. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
villa | party | wedding anniversary | seaside | See All (4) »
See all certifications »
Madragoa Filmes [Portugal] (Portuguese)
Portugal | France
Portuguese | French
2 October 1996 (France) See more »
Fiesta See more »
Portugal See more »
PTE 500,000,000 (estimated)
Madragoa Filmes, Gemini Films, Instituto Português da Arte Cinematográfica e Audiovisual (IPACA) See more »
Stereo | Dolby SR
PARTY (Manoel De Oliveira, 1996) **
20 November 2008 | by Bunuel1976 – See all my reviews
This was a disappointment: I had expected something sophisticated along the satirical lines of Jean Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939), given its backdrop of an aristocratic fete. Instead, we're treated to a pretentious drama – basically a four-parter in which the main characters are named after the respective actors playing them! It's also set on an island to drive further home the idea of an allegory – but whose point is obscure, with the stream of ambiguous and heavy-going chatter being interrupted only by the occasional lyrical moment (the film, at least, looks good)!
International stars Michel Piccoli and Irene Papas appear as the elderly couple, while lovely Leonor Silveira (a recurring presence throughout the latter phase of Oliveira's career) is the younger woman and Rogerio Samora her jealous husband. They all try but are defeated by a meandering script – which eventually sees Piccoli expressing his love for Silveira: naturally, this gives rise to arguments…which are brought to an abrupt end by a gust of wind that ruins the younger couple's garden party. Five years later, things resume at a castle where the two couples are newly gathered: as before, there's no happy ending in sight for any of the characters – plus nature puts in a disruptive appearance yet again by way of a downpour.
Having to do perhaps with the impossibly advanced age of the director himself, what I'd watched of Oliveira's recent work prior to this had been imbued with a sense of calm meditation – which, unfortunately, has been replaced here by an unwieldy (and, frankly, tedious) rhetoric!