FILM

Portugal/France 2010 266 mins Subtitles Dir: Raoul Ruiz Starring: Adriano Luz, Maria Joao Bastos, Ricardo Pereira, Jose Alfonso Pimentel, Joao Arrais

That's no misprint. This epic Portuguese costume drama really is just shy of four-and-a-half hours long. High-minded Chilean-born director Raoul Ruiz has form in this department. 'Time Regained', his mostly impenetrable adaptation of Proust's 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu', ran to nearly three hours. He clearly imagines this handsomely staged adaptation of a forgotten mid-19th century Portuguese novel to be Shakespearian in nature. But it feels more like six episodes of a soapy TV miniseries stapled together. And that's exactly what it is. If you've got the arse cushion for it, and are prepared to accept contrivances and coincidences that are cheekily excused by the protagonists as being the kind of thing that no one would believe if they happened in drama, then you may find all the dual identities, ripe dialogue and absurd plot twists preposterously entertaining.

It begins with a parentage revelation as bullied, pint-sized bastard Pedro (Arrais, later Pimnentel) is informed by his guardian, Father Dinis (Luz), that his mother is the Countess of Santa Barbara (Bastos). Turns out she's been imprisoned in the gothic castle on the hill by the evil Count, who's carrying on with a serving wench. Extended flashbacks then reveal the circumstances in which Pedro was born, introduce a wrong 'un named Knife-Face (Pereira), who'll pop up again in a radically different guise, and eventually tie up most of the loose ends. Elegant it ain't; one major character simply disappears and is later said to have perished of cholera. There's plenty of intrigue along the way, plus a couple of fancy balls and a duel. Anyone who lasts the course without dissolving into fits of giggles deserves some kind of arthouse solemnity award. (Robin Askew)

Website http://mysteriesoflisbon.com

Opens: 9 Dec

Copyright Robin Askew 2011