Stylised as a superior mixture of German Expressionism and American Gothic, this confrontation between an observer and a feudal baron has rightly been described as Kafkaesque. It reveals itself as a remake of a film destroyed in the 1940s by the repressive Portuguese regime.
In Lisbon during WWII, a group of film makers began filming the unmistakeably Kafkaesque novel O Barão (The Baron) by Branquinho da Fonseca. However, the repressive Portuguese regime destroyed all the footage. In The Baron, director Pêra revives the project on the basis of the original script.
A school inspector travels to the baron’s fiefdom to write a report on a heathen teacher. Having arrived, he is invited to stay with the baron, who makes predictions about women, horses and politics while the mysterious Idalina serves food and drink. The inspector becomes inextricably entangled in the baron’s world.
Pêra uses expressionist studio settings à la James Whale, a musical score reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti, theatrical make-up, classical shadow play and editing to achieve a superior mix of pre-war Russian cinema, German expressionism, silent movies and American gothic. And at least one dance number. –Rotterdam
Edgar Henrique Clemente Pêra (Lisbon, November 19, 1960) is a Portuguese cinematographer. He enrolled in the Escola de Cinema do Conservatório Nacional (presently Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema) in 1980, with a concentration in film editing. He is known as an experimental film director in the neuro-punk genre, working in documentaries, and short and long film and video productions. He is also a graphic comic artist. His directorial debut occurred in 1990 at the Portuguese festival, Fantasporto with the short: Reproduta Interdita. —Wikipedia
Excellent exercise in style and expressionist/noir aesthetics. Nuno Melo is colossal as The Baron and proves that, when working with good directors, portuguese actors can be outstanding. The music by Vozes da Rádio is ominous and enhances the film's opressive atmosphere. The moment when the Tuna plays the drums is one of the greatest in contemporary portuguese cinema.
3 em 5, apesar de algumas inconsistências e de um «estilo» excessivo para uma longa metragem. Não é, sócios e sócias? It's the final countdown.
One of my favorite films of this year: the fictional history of a US-American director called Valerie Lewton (!) and her lost Portuguese movie, "The Baron" is designed as a reconstruction of the recently found print including double projections. It's amazing how spot-on director Pera is in evoking the visual extravaganza of Val Lewton's productions and how hallucinogenic his own movie has become. Mesmerizing!
