Os Verdes Anos, Rocha’s first film, is an effortless, affectionate dive into the emerging Lisbon of the early sixties. Julio, a winsome lad from the provinces, comes to the big city at the invitation of his uncle. He gets a job at a cobblers and falls for Ilda, who works as a maid for a wealthy family. Their nascent love affair, perfectly captured by the fine-honed screenplay, plays out as an inspiring model and cautionary tale. Julio is gauche, but gradually begins to find his feet and his manhood. Ilda has ambitions to change her station, ambitions which her wit and beauty more than justify. Will they find a way to construct a future or will the big city swallow them up? The narrative is rendered with such unfettered charm that their story seduces, no matter the resolution. This charm lies in the pared back dialogue, the remarkable cinematography of Luc Mirot and the beguiling score by Carlos Paredes. One instantly understands how Os Verdes Anos thrust Rocha to the forefront of European cinema. The theme of a rural soul coming to the big city echoes Chabrol’s Les Cousins, and the way the film captures urban life is reminiscent of the nascent films of Godard, Iosseliani and others. That movement from the rural to the urban feels as though it has more or less played itself out in Europe. The contemporary version of this journey is one of immigration from the south or the third world to the fortresses of the western economies.
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