Diagonaldi Very well executed

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

philip-davies31 How does that poor little girl survive the relentless instructional zeal of the feminist history professor? By growing up with a goody-goody tic that has programmed her to ask the questions her indoctrinator/mother expects her to ask at the appropriate intervals. Its like a litany, with the parent as priest catechizing the child, whose questions are (in truth) merely dutiful responses to this constant stream of dry facts. No normal child of that age could endure such a logorrheic bombardment for more than a few minutes. This child's normal impulses have been suppressed, and her personality subdued into the mere ideal creation of the parent, with no evident independent nature, and no surviving impulse to run off and make her own discoveries. The complete lack of the wonder and adventurous imagination of childhood in this film, in which after all a child features so extensively, is shocking. In the midst of the truly emetic bleatings and blurtings of the bored tour guides and their shambling charges, one begins to wonder if Oliveira is going to provide a corrective to this superficial version of civilization. And he does, amazing us with the depth of wisdom emanating from the table-talk of the autodidactic world travellers at the captain's table on the cruise the mother and child have joined. He obviously sets this well-travelled and curiously informed worldly experience against the mere prescribed academic book-learning and touristic rote-incantation of historical clichés. The stiffness and passive hostility of the mother's reaction to the captain's attempt to include her and her daughter in this select group is very telling. She suspects his motives, and resents his non-academic freedom with history and culture, and is shocked - as a rigidly self-sufficient modern woman - by his intuition that she and her child 'appear lonely.' This film presents a world-view entirely at odds with the sort of superficiality inculcated in society today. It is therefore a precious commodity indeed that Oliveira is bringing to us from his voyage of discovery. SPOILER ALERT: But the unexpectedly violent denouement scuppers this optimistic outcome: In the horror-frozen grimace of the captain as his face reflects the appalling disaster overtaking his entire world, we see, if not yet the end of civilization, then certainly the deep wound afflicting it after 9/11. And one is forced to reflect that the child's culture-blind rescue of the burka-clad doll she left behind, when the alarm for 'abandon ship' was sounded, is a symbol of that vulnerable innocence which the act of terror itself has killed. The bitter irony of a child's doll becoming inextricably involved in the terrible events which lead to the death of a mother and child chills us with the inescapable realisation that now we are safe nowhere. We have been violently awoken from the beautiful dream that was civilisation. A barbaric new age is upon us.

WilliamCKH Mr de Oliveira has a lot to answer for with this film. The movie begins with a brilliant setup introducing us to Rosa and her daughter Maria, as they depart on a cruise from Portugal. We follow them on their trip to India, and are treated to beautiful sights and a history lesson at each of their stops, from Marseilles to Pompeii to Athens and Istanbul and Egypt and onward to Saudi Arabia. In between, we meet people along the way who guide the mother and daughter through the maze of history. We are also introduced to the Captain and a group of women who, each speaking their native language, communicate to each other their own views on the trajectory of civilization.....It is in a small conversation at the end of the film, when Rosa tells Maria, that history essentially is nothing more than men defending their power, much like if someone takes her doll, she would fight to take it back... it is the taking and defending of one's own world.After this, just when you think the cruise is on a smooth course, the final scene takes the wind out of the sails and we are left aghast. It is a jaunting realization that history is not something confined to books are in conversations over dinner. It is happening, in the now,...even to the most innocent of us.

surguinej I spent what seemed like hours (really only 60 minutes) waiting for something to happen in this movie. Although I liked seeing the excellent photos of interesting places that I'd like to visit someday, it seemed this was more a travelogue than a drama. I also thought it was nice to witness a healthy, positive relationship between the mother and daughter. But John Malkowitz seemed a bit affected in both his manner and his role. And what was the reason for the three famous/rich women sitting at the table with him? I kept thinking something was going to happen that involved the three of them but it never did. Then comes the ending -- oh my gosh! Where did that come from? It was totally shocking and not in a good way.

pres10514 Um Filme Falado, devoid of any real action, is presented entirely through a series of conversations, mostly between a history teacher and her young daughter, who are on a cruise through the Mediterranean. Besides the teacher, we are instructed about life, ancient and modern, by three intelligent and beautiful women, each speaking in her native European language. Although the teacher, and others, are unfailingly polite and charming, reality prevails. Some editing of the view of the ship's hull would have been advisable, but it's a quibble. For a limited audience of educated, polyglot, and thoughtful viewers who are able to appreciate irony, and to correct some historical fallacies, this film features, among other gentle performances, the incomparable Catherine Deneuve; and has structure resembling a Greek tragedy, with a journey, guides, a chorus, and an act of violence kept entirely offstage.