Film Info
Ganhar a vida

Film Information

Exhibition Title	Ganhar a vida
Original Title	Ganhar a vida
English Title	Get a Life
Director	João Canijo
Countrys
Year	2000
Format	35 mm
Colour	Color
Duration	115'

Cast:

Intérpretes / Cast: Rita Blanco, Adriano Luz, Teresa Madruga, Alda Gomes, Olivier Leite

Production:

Dirección / Director: João Canijo
Guión / Scriptwriter: João Canijo, Céline Pouillon
Fotografía / Cinematography: Mário Castanheira
Edición / Editing: João Braz
Producción / Producer: Paulo Branco
Compañía Productora / Production Company: Madragoa Filmes, Gémini Films, ICAM, RTP, La Sept-Arte

dates & times ticket

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Synopsis

With Get a Life, Canijo began to form his identity as a specifically “Portuguese” director, a quality that will be present in all his subsequent works. This is not merely a matter of nationality, but rather has to do with the characteristics of his films, which are deeply rooted in the observation of the Portuguese reality. Paradoxically, this definition takes place outside the country, for the film tells the story of a community of Portuguese emigrants in France. Cidália (played once more by Blanco in her most emblematic role) loses her eldest son in a violent incident. Unable to come to terms with this, she decides to demand justice and lead a march of women to the police station, where she learns the bullet that killed her son was not fired by the police. The protest is broadcasted on TV, and attracts attention on a community that doesn’t wish to be exposed. Like Antigone (a tragic archetype again), Cidália challenges both the community’s “rule of silence” and the Law of the city, and finds herself ostracised and leaning into the abyss.

Augusto M. Seabra