User reviews

This is the film adaptation of a famous novel by Camilo Castelo Branco and tells the sad love story of Simão Botelho and Teresa de Albuquerque. Its headed by António Lopes Ribeiro (who also wrote the script) and has a good cast of theater actors, headed by António Vilar (as Simon) and Carmen Dolores (as Teresa).

The novel "Amor de Perdição" (in English "Doomed Love") is a beloved book of the Portuguese literature and whose story has many parallels with Romeo and Juliet, with an advantage: the story of Simão and Teresa happened in real life, having been transposed to paper and adapted for novel by Simon's great-nephew, Camilo Castelo Branco. The film tries to faithfully tell the novel's story, taking special care with the dialog's, sets and costumes. Its a humble film, of a time when the Portuguese cinema was still taking its first steps, so we cannot ask too much. However, is already noticeable in some of the actors an attempt to act naturally, without all the theatrics required from the stage where they were used to act. So, its a film that, while not surprise us, has the elegance, purity and beauty of classic films of Portuguese cinema.