The Green Years

Paulo Rocha's 1963 Portuguese film is taken as the starting point of the country's new cinema. Júlio, nineteen, comes to Lisbon from the provinces and starts work in his uncle's shoemaking shop; meeting Ilda, who works as a housemaid, brings two different expectations of life against each other. Rocha shows the urban reality of the Salazar years directly: neighbourhoods under construction, rented rooms, the loneliness of those arriving from the country. The film's strength is writing Júlio's entrapment as a social condition rather than a flaw of character. The ending is harsh and unexpected. The rhythm is slow and the dialogue sparse; the story proceeds largely through looks and places. Who it's for: viewers interested in Portuguese cinema and European realism of the sixties. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a fast narrative, or who would rather not be caught unprepared by a violent close.