Screen/Society--Tournées French Film Series--"Mysteries of Lisbon" (note early 6pm start time!)

"Mysteries of Lisbon" (Raul Ruiz, 2010, 257 min, France/Portugal, in Portuguese, French and English with subtitles, Color, DVD) This masterful adaptation of the eponymous 19th century Portuguese novel evokes the complex intertwined narratives of Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens. The core story centers on Joao, the bastard child of an ill-fated romance between two members of the aristocracy who are forbidden to marry, and his quest to discover the truth of his parentage. But this is just the start of an engrossing tale that follows a multitude of characters whose fates conjoin, separate and then rejoin again over three decades in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. "Mysteries of Lisbon" plunges us into a veritable whirlwind of adventures and escapades, coincidences and revelations, sentiments and violent passions, vengeance, love affairs, all wrapped in a rhapsodic voyage that takes us from Portugal to France, Italy, and as far as Brazil. --"The most glorious achievement of Raúl Ruiz's prodigious career and one of the first cinematic masterpieces of this century" (FILM COMMENT).