North American Premiere
In this clever metaphysical psychodrama, a grieving writer– tormented by the protagonist of her novel, who has come to life– revisits the story she has written. We see the protagonist await trial for a serious crime. Four women are interrogated as his character witnesses: his ex-wife, who supported him with funds stolen from her new husband; his landlady, who would turn a blind eye to his dishonesty, when convenient; his emotionally detached mother, who feels that only God can judge him; and a pretty woman, pregnant with his child.
The circumstances leading up to the protagonist’s crime are gradually revealed: a lonesome lifestyle steeped in falsehoods; a pathological fixation on a beautiful woman at the beach; and a romance founded in delusion. Years after the ink has dried, the novelist must grapple with the sinister intent of a creation that has spun out of her control. Bolstered by psychologically rich narration adapted from the eponymous novel by Dulce Maria Cardoso, Field of Blood blurs the lines between story and story-within-story to thrilling effect.
Carloto Cotta, Luísa Cruz, Sara Carinhas, Teresa Madruga, Fernanda Neves, Suzana Borges
Portugal
2022
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Graphic Violence
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what’s playing at the VIFF Centre
Chicken For Linda!
Husband and wife duo Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands) evoke the freewheeling farcical slapstick spirit of Jacques Tati and the palette of Henri Matisse in this sparkling animated gem for all ages.
Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
Radu Jude takes two days in the life of a stressed Romanian p.a. and gives us an urgent, pissed off, sourly funny polemic on the state of late capitalism. Exploitation, discrimination and hypocrisy are his targets; dialectics are his dynamite.
Before I Change My Mind
Trevor Anderson's coming of age movie -- set in Edmonton, 1987 -- slyly subverts expectations, embracing complexity and contradiction in its nuanced take on fledgling identities, while delivering laugh-out-loud moments and big emotional showdowns.
The Zone of Interest
Glazer's award-winning film follows Hedwig Höss (Sandra Hüller), mother of five, and wife to Rudolph. They live in an idyllic villa with a the bucolic garden, literally a stone's throw from Rudolph's place of work -- he's Camp Commandant at Auschwitz.
Credits
Producer
Ana Pinhão Moura
Screenwriter
Luís Mário Lopes, João Mário Grilo, Inês Beleza Barreiros
Cinematography
João Ribeiro
Editor
Roberto Perpignani
Original Music
Mário Laginha
Art Director
Silvia Grabowski
Director
João Mário Grilo
João Mário Grilo was born in 1958 in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. He has directed several films that have been featured in the world’s most prestigious festivals, such as A Estrangeira (1982), which was in competition at the Venice Film Festival; O Processo do Rei (1989), which screened at the Berlinale and the Toronto International Film Festival; O Fim do mundo (1993), which was selected at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section; Os Olhos da Ásia (1996), which screened at Locarno Film Festival and VIFF; and Longe da Vista (1998), which screened in competition at Venice Film Festival.
Filmography: A Falha (2002); Two Women (2009); Escrita Íntima (2017); Vieirarpad (2021)