Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Movie review - Portugal, Mon Amour (La Cage Doree)

Maria and José Ribiero (Rita Blanco and Joaquim de Almeida) are a pair of Portuguese immigrants living in Paris. Both are doing reasonably well in blue collar jobs - José is the foreman for a building company, while Maria is the concierge in one of the more affluent arrondissements of Paris. They are appreciated by their bosses, and they and their family, adult daughter Paula and late-teen Pedro are well-integrated. Everything changes when José is informed that he has inherited his ancestral estate and winery, but with the condition that he move back and reside in Portugal. Confronted with the possibility of losing them, Maria and José's family, friends, and employers secretly conspire to keep them in France.

To be honest, since watching the movie, I've had mixed thoughts about it. During the film, I was laughing out loud at the various schemes and pratfalls, and walked out feeling thoroughly entertained and warm inside. Since then, I can't help thinking how selfish everyone was in wanting to keep them in Paris. I mean the argument is that it was all because the people around love them and/or appreciate their work, but really. These people have had the luck to inherit a legacy that they conspire to keep them from claiming by preying on Maria and José's essentially good natures. Having said that, the movie ends on a good-natures (if slightly clichéd) note that neatly solves all problems. 

Otherwise, it's a nice film showing conflicts that immigrants can have when balancing their origins and the lives made for themselves.

6/10

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