José & Pilar

Miguel Goncalves Mendes's 2010 documentary follows several years of the writer Jose Saramago and his wife Pilar del Rio. Saramago is in his eighties and writing one of his last novels; in the same period he travels constantly, gives lectures and his health declines. At the centre is the balance between work and care. Pilar is his translator, the person who runs his calendar and his wife; the film makes her labour visible without turning it into a narrative of sacrifice. Mendes filmed over a long stretch and stayed close without keeping distance. The camera is at the writing desk, on the plane, in hospital and in the kitchen; the difference between the writer's public and domestic selves is the film's real observation. Who it's for: those who like literary documentary and readers of Saramago. Who it's not for: viewers expecting analysis of the work; the film looks at days rather than texts.