Cinema
O Pátio das Cantigas
Ribeirinho · 1942
Synopsis
A courtyard in a working-class district of Lisbon, at the time of the June saints' festivals. Narciso, a former guitar virtuoso turned drunkard, runs a dairy with his son Rufino, who acts more like his guardian. Evaristo, the grocer across the way, rich and irascible, is his sworn enemy. Both court Dona Rosa, a widow and florist, while the young people of the courtyard fall in love at cross purposes and a swindling musician looks for the means to slip off to Brazil. The night of the ball draws near.
Context
The film was written by the director, by his elder brother, who produced it for his young company, and by Vasco Santana, the lead performer; the director himself plays Rufino. Shot in September and October 1941, it was released at the Teatro Éden on 23 January 1942. The comedy rests on wordplay and double meaning more than on plot, and several scenes have endured: the drunkard's monologue under the street lamp, the fountain of wine that gushes forth when he pierces the wall of the neighbour's cellar, the Swedish gymnastics gag, the line “Ó Evaristo, tens cá disto?”.
Who it is for
A black-and-white comedy, in Portuguese. The film's wit lies in its double-meaning lines, which subtitling renders poorly.
Prizes and reception
One of the best-loved comedies of Portuguese cinema, which television made immensely popular from 1957; remade in 2015.
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