Lines of Wellington (Portuguese: Linhas de Wellington) is a 2012 Franco-Portuguese epic war film and television series prepared by Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and completed by his widow Valeria Sarmiento. Its title refers to the historical Lines of Torres Vedras.
| Lines of Wellington | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Valeria Sarmiento |
| Written by | Carlos Saboga |
| Produced by | Paulo Branco |
| Starring | Nuno Lopes Soraia Chaves Marisa Paredes John Malkovich Carloto Cotta |
| Cinematography | André Szankowski |
| Edited by | Valeria Sarmiento Luca Alverdi |
| Music by | Jorge Arriagada |
Production company | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 151 minutes |
| Countries | Portugal France |
| Languages | Portuguese French English |
The film was in competition for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.[1] It was also shown at the 2012 San Sebastián International Film Festival,[2] the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival[3] and the 2012 New York Film Festival.[4] The film was selected as the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[5] but it was not nominated.
Plot
editIn the autumn of 1810, the French forces of Marshal Masséna are invading Portugal and are temporarily halted by the Anglo-Portuguese army under Viscount Wellington at the Battle of Bussaco. As a bitter winter approaches, Wellington withdraws his troops towards the fortifications he has prepared in secret at the Lines of Torres Vedras. Using a scorched earth defence, he forces the inhabitants to evacuate the land in front of the Lines and destroys all supplies which could be useful to the French. The film illustrates these dramatic events by a series of vignettes which show the effects on combatants, both regular soldiers and guerrillas, and on the civilian population.
Cast
edit- John Malkovich as General Wellington
- Soraia Chaves as Martírio
- Vincent Pérez as Lévêque
- Marisa Paredes as Dona Filipa
- Melvil Poupaud as Marshal Massena
- Mathieu Amalric as General Marbot
- Elsa Zylberstein as Sister Irmã Cordélia
- Christian Vadim as Marshal Soult
- Ricardo Pereira
- Carloto Cotta as Pedro de Alencar
- Nuno Lopes as Francisco Xavier
- Jemima West as Maureen
- Catherine Deneuve as Severina
- Isabelle Huppert as Cosima Pia
- Malik Zidi as Octave Ségur
- Chiara Mastroianni as Hussardo
- Michel Piccoli as Leópold Scheitzer
- Victoria Guerra as Clarissa
- Maria João Bastos as Maria de Jesus
- Marcello Urgeghe as Jonathan Foster
- José Afonso Pimentel as Zé Maria
Reception
editJaime N. Christley of Slant Magazine wrote "Dull but never dreary, Lines of Wellington was one of the projects in Raúl Ruiz's pipeline before he passed away last year".[6]
According to Xan Brooks of The Guardian "This epic historical pageant 'conceived by' the late director Raoul Ruiz won't win the top prize in Venice, but it's full of life"[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Venezia 69". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ "Zabaltegi Specials". sansebastianfestival.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Programmer's Note". tiff.net. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "2012 New York Film Festival Line-Up Announced". collider.com. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Melhor Film Português aos Oscars". Academia Portuguesa de Cinema. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ Christley, Jaime N. (27 September 2017). "Review: Lines of Wellington". Slant Magazine.
- ^ Brooks, Xan (4 September 2012). "Linhas de Wellington – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2021.