Classic Portuguese Movies
Algernon Alcala
Just back from the holidays: two weeks in Lisbon & surroundings. In addition to the classics (the rattling old trams, the bars & restaurants at the Bairro Alto, the Gulbelkian Museum, the old Alfama quarter, Belm, the palaces at Sintra, and one day to Coimbra) we also did some less obvious exploring, such as regarding film culture.
We were staying at the Eden Hotel, a former movie palace from 1931. The faade has partly remained intact, but where the big poster walls were, two enormous gaps enable the guests to see through and enjoy the view on the city. At the flea market Feira da Ladra, we found an old programme of the theatre, indicating a vast programme with two intermissions. On the other side of the street, the Avenida da Liberdade, is the Condes, once a large cinema, now the Hard Rock Caf. Before this building was opened in 1951, a long running stage theatre had already been standing here which turned into a cinema in 1916. At the same flea market we found a booklet with the rich theatre and film history of the Condes until the opening of 1951.
A bit up the Avenida, there still is the cinema San Jorge, a huge cinema, which shows art movies now and then. A bit further, in the side street Salgueiro, the nice Cinemateca Portuguesa is located, where the average age of the matinee visitor is over 60. We saw an old Raoul Wash movie starring Robert Mitchum: Pursued, a kind of psychological western, with suggestions of incest and with a strong performance by Mitchum (Teresa Wright was quite awful).
But the best film we saw in Lisbon was the city itself. In spite of its restaurations and renewal (thanks to Unesco, the 1998 Expo etc.), it still breathes history as soon as you get away from the too touristy streets & squares. We also encountered this in a very vivid way, when in a restaurant in Bairro Alto, we met Simone de Oliveira, once (and in Portugal still is) a famous Portuguese singer who participated in the Eurovision song festival of 1969. Her strong performance and her powerful voice can still be seen & heard on YouTube. Costumes & sets are also quite unforgettable period pieces.
Slowly, a web of lies, vengeance, love and deceit begins to unravel. The film is purposely confusing at first, since each of the three characters has their own version of the story, but it eventually shows you the explosive truth of what really happened.
Looking for some campy, science fiction fun? This movie has everything you could want: a more-awkward-than-mad scientist, time travel, particle accelerators, romance and an exploration of being granted one big do-over to change your life.
Chico Xavier was a famous Brazilian mystic who channeled almost 500 books. The main premise of this movie is that it was communicated to Xavier long ago by a spirit who told tales of his journey through the afterlife.
Meet D, a poor boy from the Cantagalo favela of Rio de Janeiro, and Nina, a wealthy girl from a glitzy oceanside neighborhood. This is your classic, Shakespearean tale of star-crossed lovers, so prepare for a dose of childhood trauma, coming of age, forbidden rendezvous and tragedy.
This costume drama from Portugal seems to be about an orphan trying to uncover his mysterious past at first, but then branches out into several plot interconnected lines, narrations and stories.
As one of the shopkeepers decides to pursue his dream of creating his own radio station, he relies on the musical talents of his daughter and son-in-law to fulfill his vision. This was released in 1944, but there are a lot of enjoyable comedic scenes here!
This means watching carefully while paying close attention to vocabulary and grammar use. Keep track of any unfamiliar words so that you can look them up later and add them to your notes.
And if you make it through all of them, check out some of the best Portuguese movies on Netflix next.
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The following list features some of the best Portuguese movies of all time, including movies in Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese from Portugal, and a little Portuguese from Angola. You can find some of these Portuguese movies on Netflix and some of them on DVD/Blu-Ray.
You may find other means to watch Portuguese movies online. There are some video on demand services like Amazon Prime, Globo Play, or Play Plus, that offer a good set of movies in Portuguese. They even enable you to watch movies online with Portuguese subtitles.
The folkloric Joo Grilo and his sly buddy Chic are cheap con artists (malandros) in the Northeast of Brazil. Their encounter with Lampio, a historical figure known as a kind of Brazilian Robin Hood, results in their death and the afterlife judgement involving Jesus, the Devil, and the Virgin Mary.
Besides famous director Guel Arraes, virtually all actors in this Portuguese film are famous: Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello, Matheus Nachtergaele, Virgnia Cavendish, Marco Nanini, Diogo Vilela, Denise Fraga, and many more.
Set at the beginning of the 1990s, Brazil is ruined. A Brazilian guy of Spanish descent travels to Portugal in search of economic opportunities. He finds odd jobs as a migrant, one of which is delivering a mysterious package which grants him trouble with the police.
The cast gathers dramatic heavyweights Lima Duarte and Vera Holtz together with younger faces such as Marisol Ribeiro, Luana Piovani, Ailton Graa, and Robson Nunes. This film also features pop singer Latino.
The song lyrics are a resourceful tool for exploring Brazilian culture, since they accurately depict the lyrical universe of contemporary Brazilian trashy-pop music. Some of the common expressions are:
This is another modern classic of Brazilian Portuguese cinema. A bitter former schoolteacher works as a letter writer for illiterate people in the Central Station of Rio de Janeiro. She meets a young boy, whose mother has died, and helps him find his father in the hinterland of Northeast Brazil.
Interested in Portuguese historical movies? This movie is set during the late 1700s to early 1800s, and is based on a novel by seminal Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco. This kaleidoscopical narrative chronicles personal dramas of multiple characters related to Father Dinis, a village priest involved in the local affairs and very connected to the young orphan Joo.
This is one of the most interesting Portuguese romance movies of prolific Portuguese movie director Manoel de Oliveira. It depicts the relationship and social dynamics in modern Portugal. The poetic narrative and beautiful landscapes and imagery are distinctive to this movie.
One of the best Portuguese horror movies, this classic Brazilian film will give the viewer insight into the cinematic production of director
Jos Mojica Marins, the father of Brazilian horror. This includes his legendary character of long nails Z do Caixo (Coffin Joe).
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When Disney Plus first launched, it was only available in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands (a test market), supporting 4 languages English, Spanish, French, and Dutch. With more countries being added, you can expect to see this list of supported languages grow.
All classic Walt Disney films and animations, Pixar, Marvel, 20th Century Fox and new Disney+ originals are available in up to 12 different languages. As a general rule of thumb, movies that have been around for a few years and are big names will have been translated into more languages. For example, The Little Mermaid is available in Danish, Dutch, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Suomi. While The Little Mermaid II is only available in Spanish and English.
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Now that you know how Disney+ works, here are 44 of the best movies to watch on Disney+ to help you learn your target language. The movies and TV series in this list were chosen based on the number of languages they are available in, their popularity, entertainment value, and for their variety in genres.
Do you have a question about using Disney Plus for language learning? Ask me below!
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I am also wanting to work to improve my Spanish and French so that I can certify in those as well. This will be such an awesome ? resource for me, my family and my students! I would also love to hear about your 80/20 rule. We try to aim for 90/10 when it comes to percentage of the target language spoken in class. Is that what you mean by 80/20 or something else? Where can I go to learn more?! ??
Hi I was just wondering for the movies/shows in Portuguese, is it Brazilian or European? Currently I am trying to learn European and I am unable to tell the difference.
Thank you so much! This is very useful!
Sit back, relax and watch a film. Explore our selection. We have a huge list of more than 100 award-winning movies, including the latest Hollywood releases, classics, animations and the best of independent cinema.
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