Oliveira recreates a period of decadence and skepticism in the Portuguese and perhaps the larger European society in the mid 19th century where lofty ideas were inevitably wed with a lack of common sense. A society that was on the threshold of the machine age leading to much confusion and despair with the ways of life that were rapidly changing. Much like the romanticism and nihilism that was characteristic of the music and literature of this period, the emotions are tumultuous but very seldom make sense. I find this film a valuable document of an era almost in the same manner as some of the Ford's or Rossellini's that I admire.
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