The Last Dive

João César Monteiro's 1992 Portuguese film covers a night in Lisbon. Eloi, a middle-aged man, stops the young Samuel from throwing himself into the sea and takes him along. The film does not build that rescue as kindness. Eloi takes the young man to a nightclub and introduces him to his own daughter; the narrative does not explain the relationships and offers no moral ground. Monteiro was known in Portuguese cinema for a provocative manner. The scenes are long and the dialogue literary; the narrative stands deliberately in an uncomfortable place and the close is harsh. Who it's for: those who follow Portuguese cinema and provocative narrative. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a moral frame; the film refuses to provide one and places suicide at its centre.