Review of Mysteries of Lisbon (2010) by Rob L — 04 Dec 2012

Camilo Castelo Branco's novel has never been translated into English and little wonder given its mighty length and similarity to many English and French works of fiction of the period. But here, Raul Ruiz transforms it into something wonderful - an elliptical, confusing and intensely oblique narrative that continually confounds our presumptions.

I'm not a stickler for watching a film in one sitting so this turned out to be quite manageable - especially in the current era where box sets have primed our attention spans to be more patient. The characters are expertly drawn and the story within a story format introduces us carefully to the intertwining nature of their fortunes over a fifty year period - the transition from eighteenth to mid nineteenth century is effortless. As satisfying as other great masterpieces such as the Jean de Florette movies and The Leopard.