DVD Review - Capitaes de Abril (April Captains)

This film marked the directorial debut of actress Maria de Medeiros and it is a fine debut indeed. This is the story of how the Portuguese army forced the fascist government to surrender without firing a single bullet. The story takes place in April 1974 (hence the name of the film.

That things worked out as well as they did is due to the heroic efforts of two captains - Maia (Stefano Accorsi) and Emanuel (Joaquim de Almeida). Both of these men stood their ground. Besides Portuagal being ruled by fascists the government sent soldiers to certain countries in Africa in order to "civilize" the people who lived there. This resulted in the killing of many Africans. The soldiers had enough of this so they rebelled. Ms. de Medeiros also co-wrote the screenplay with Eve Deboise and plays Antonia, who is teacher and part of an underground rebel group. She also happens to be married to Emanuel. Playing an important supporting role as Labao, one of the rebel soldiers, is Spanish actor Fele Martinez.

At the beginning of the film there are images of Africans who were killed and that was just horrific. But, all in all, I found the film quite uplifting and I learned about something that I really didn't know anything about. As we see in the film it is possible to change things in a non violent way (this was called the carnation revolution and the bloodless revolution). So if you are interested in world cinema and want to expand your historical horizons this film is for you.