Lines of Wellington
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 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Valeria Sarmiento |
Produced by | Paulo Branco |
Written by | Carlos Saboga |
Starring | Nuno Lopes Soraia Chaves Marisa Paredes John Malkovich Carloto Cotta |
Music by | Jorge Arriagada |
Cinematography | André Szankowski |
Edited by | Valeria Sarmiento Luca Alverdi |
Production company | Alfama Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 151 minutes |
Country | Portugal France |
Language | 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
In 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
- John Malkovich - General Wellington
- Soraia Chaves - Martírio
- Vincent Pérez - Lévêque
- Marisa Paredes - Dona Filipa
- Melvil Poupaud - Marshal Massena
- Mathieu Amalric - General Marbot
- Elsa Zylberstein - Sister Irmã Cordélia
- Christian Vadim - Marshal Soult
- Ricardo Pereira
- Carloto Cotta - Pedro de Alencar
- Nuno Lopes - Francisco Xavier
- Jemima West - Maureen
- Catherine Deneuve - Severina
- Isabelle Huppert - Cosima Pia
- Malik Zidi - Octave Ségur
- Chiara Mastroianni - Hussardo
- Michel Piccoli - Leópold Scheitzer
- Victoria Guerra - Clarissa
- Maria João Bastos - Maria de Jesus
- Marcello Urgeghe - Jonathan Foster
- José Afonso Pimentel - Zé Maria
See also
References
- "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. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- "Melhor Film Português aos Oscars". Academia Portuguesa de Cinema. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.