Capitães de Abril (2000)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Maria de Medeiros

Writers:

Ève Deboise (writer)
Maria de Medeiros (writer)

Release Date:

21 huhtikuu 2000 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Há momentos em que a única solução é desobedecer.

Plot:

Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it. |

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Portuguese | Colonialism | Interrogation | Africa

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Stefano Accorsi	...	Maia
Maria de Medeiros	...	Antónia
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Gervásio
Frédéric Pierrot	...	Manuel
Fele Martínez	...	Lobão
Manuel João Vieira	...	Fonseca
Marcantonio Del Carlo	...	Silva
Emmanuel Salinger	...	Botelho
Rita Durão	...	Rosa
Manuel Manquiña	...	Gabriel
Duarte Guimarães	...	Daniel
Manuel Lobão	...	Fernandes
Luís Miguel Cintra	...	Pais
Joaquim Leitão	...	Filipe
Canto e Castro	...	Salieri

Also Known As:

April Captains (USA)
Capitaines d'avril (France)
Capitanes de abril (Spain)
Capitani d'aprile (Italy)
Captains of April (International: English title)

Runtime:

123 min | Argentina:125 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Spain | Italy | France | Portugal

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Escola Prática de Infantaria, Santarém, Portugal

Company:

Alia Film

Trivia:

The voice of "Oscar" on the telephone is the voice of lieutenant-colonel Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, acting the role he had played years before in real life. In 1974, it was he (as a major) who organized and planned the revolution that the film depicts, and it was he who commanded the troops from Headquarters at Pontinha. His code name was "Oscar."

Goofs:

Factual errors: The officer of the day at Escola Prática de Cavalaria, Liutenent Lobão, doesn't wear the red band at his left arm that all all officers of the day must wear to identify them as such.

A Portuguese film, just like the ones I used to dream of...

Being half-portuguese doesn't render me half-blind (nor half-prejudiced) when discussing portuguese films. Not that I get to do that very often anyway. But this film was such a rush of adrenaline! Yes, that's right - it was mostly accurate as far as history went/goes - but it pulled no punches on venturing beyond usual portuguese-film territory: things like using real locations in the middle of traffic-congested Lisbon and recruiting a real crowd to stand in for the real crowd of almost 30 years ago. And by God did they get it right! OK, to sum it up: very emotional if you've lived through it, but you'll spot minor improvements that could have been made as well as plot necessities that were. If you're just watching it randomly, you're in for a good historical romp, only of the very recent History kind and a bit more thought-proving than usual. Even by European standards, yes.