We did have a pleasant time watching, ‘O Pai Tirano’, a comedy directed by António Lopes Ribeiro. We in the comfort of the Instituto Camões, whilst rain pelted our windows, laughed at the antics of Mega, Vasco Santana and the lovely Tatão.
This film belongs to a series of ‘feel good movies’ which include, ‘A Aldeia da Roupa Branca, by Chianca de Garcia, As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor, A Canção de Lisboa directed by Cottinelli Telmo. The ingredients are all there to make the viewer forget his mundane life, for just a few hours. Shot during the oppressive days of the Salazar Regime, these films have the right mix of romance, tiny intrigues, good music, songs, sometimes the setting of rural Portugal to make you forget just for the moment what awaits you once you leave the theatre. But do these films have only the feel good factor or are there messages strewn all over the film to make you think?
If we look at the film with an analytical and realistic mind, we realise that the film belongs to Tatão from the beginning to the end; it is Tatão who calls the shots. It is Tatão who makes Mega run round in circles. Nowhere in the film do we see any of the female personagens cowering and acting inferior to the men, they are all equal.
In the scene where Tatão meets Mega’s ersatz family, it is she who confronts the Tyrant Father, supporting Mega, the errant son.
Tatão urges Mega to be more courageous, explains how life for women has changed. She stresses on the fact that women no longer stay at home, that most of them have jobs, and yes most of them have a social life too, aren’t some of them a part of Mega’s own theatrical group?
Makes you wonder if this wasn’t a subtle call to women in the repressive regime to wake and change their life, maybe not in huge leaps but in tiny steps.
This film belongs to a series of ‘feel good movies’ which include, ‘A Aldeia da Roupa Branca, by Chianca de Garcia, As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor, A Canção de Lisboa directed by Cottinelli Telmo. The ingredients are all there to make the viewer forget his mundane life, for just a few hours. Shot during the oppressive days of the Salazar Regime, these films have the right mix of romance, tiny intrigues, good music, songs, sometimes the setting of rural Portugal to make you forget just for the moment what awaits you once you leave the theatre. But do these films have only the feel good factor or are there messages strewn all over the film to make you think?
If we look at the film with an analytical and realistic mind, we realise that the film belongs to Tatão from the beginning to the end; it is Tatão who calls the shots. It is Tatão who makes Mega run round in circles. Nowhere in the film do we see any of the female personagens cowering and acting inferior to the men, they are all equal.
In the scene where Tatão meets Mega’s ersatz family, it is she who confronts the Tyrant Father, supporting Mega, the errant son.
Tatão urges Mega to be more courageous, explains how life for women has changed. She stresses on the fact that women no longer stay at home, that most of them have jobs, and yes most of them have a social life too, aren’t some of them a part of Mega’s own theatrical group?
Makes you wonder if this wasn’t a subtle call to women in the repressive regime to wake and change their life, maybe not in huge leaps but in tiny steps.
