THE DAY OF DESPAIR (O DIA DO DESESPERO) International Authors and Films

The 1992 AFI Fest tribute to Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira was a revelation for Los Angeles. His latest film is another major work, saluting Portugal’s greatest novelist. “Characterized as a blend of JeanMarie Straub and Max Ophuls, Manoel de Oliveira’s filmmaking always concerns the precise rendering of the sense of mystery and astonishment at the heart of human emotion. In The Day of Despair, his great facility reaches a powerful synthesis in this true story about the last years of the 19th century’s remarkable Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco, considered the foremost novelist of both Spain and Portugal. Based on Branco’s private letters, The Day of Despair follows the tense development of a virile, controversial and stubbornly romantic man.”-Dimitri Eipides, Toronto Film Festival