Cinema
Aldeia da Roupa Branca
Chianca de Garcia · 1939
Synopsis
In a village in the Saloia region, north of Lisbon, washerwomen wash the townspeople's linen at the riverside, and two families dispute over its transport: on one side Uncle Jacinto and his goddaughter Gracinda, on the other the widow Quitéria and her son Luís. Jacinto's business is going badly; Gracinda goes to Lisbon to persuade Chico, her cousin, with whom she is in love, to come and help them.
Context
The film takes up the formula of A Canção de Lisboa, of which its director had been the supervisor, transposing it from the city to the village. General secretary of the São Luiz cinema, Chianca de Garcia had a production company, Espectáculos de Arte, created for this one film; the village set was built near the Tobis studio. The screenplay owes much to the playwright Ramada Curto and the poet José Gomes Ferreira, and a song, Água Fria da Ribeira, remains well known. Shot in 1938 and released in January 1939, it is Beatriz Costa's last film.
Who it is for
A black and white comedy, in Portuguese. The songs carry a good part of the film, and the speech of the villages around Lisbon is a comic device.
Prizes and reception
One of the great popular successes of pre-war Portuguese cinema, and the film that established its director.
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