User Reviews

Definitely one of the oddest films I've seen in many a day... If you can imagine a woman who looks a great deal like Joan Rivers living in Lisbon in a house that she has redesigned as the White House and makes speeches about Manifest Destiny in Portuguese to her all-female staff (who prepare state banquets of fast food, including Kentucky Fried Chicken by the bucket)... well, if your imagination takes flights like that, then you'll be far less surprised by this movie than I was! The joke wore a little thin in the final reels, but it's nice to see such a fresh and whimsical view of things... I can't imagine anything like this being made even by an indie in the States. 2 1/2 stars out of 5, with an added half star for the originality of the concept, so 3...

This exclusively female movie (you never see a man during the whole projection) looks like if it was filmed in a self-managed female mad-house where one of the inmates is convinced that she is the President of U.S.A. and all the others agree to that and take part in the simulation of that fable. There is not properly a story but only a confused (and confusing) sequence of surrealistic scenes and dialogues most of them meaningless. Maybe João Botelho wanted to make an iconoclast movie but if he did he hasn't succeeded at all in my opinion, thus wasting the real talent of so many good actresses of whom the cast is composed.

plot : a woman (alexandra lencastre) lives in a house and acts like she's the president of the u.s.a the script is wonderful and the main idea is awesome, she gives interviews and her mother is a kinda demented and hash addicted old-lady (she's really funny too) she makes speeches about women rights and her husband is always sleeping (we never see his face 'cause he's always in bed with the sheets all over his face)her secretary (rita blanco) is attending a terapist and tells her about her strange dreams (very very surreal and wonderfully brought to screen) i saw this movie on the theatre and i must say that i loved it from the start. i recommend this film to everyone.

Exuberant use of color and speech. I think it is as much a tribute to french cinema, where photography and dialogs prevail, as it is a bizarre caricature of American imperialism. I find the direction quite good. The use of space and light is excellent. The acting is marvelous. We find here a cast that includes some of the best Portuguese actresses, lead by Alexandra whose maturity is perfect for the role she so well develops and sustains throughout the movie. Another favorite character of mine, is the lady that always speaks in Latin, citing the great orators of antiquity. Being this a film with so much dialog, and quite unusual conversations at that, I'm marveled at the specifics that elaborate the speech of each character. It's easy to get lost and come out saying it was just meaningless. But many times I feel I'm listening either to a poem or an essay. It's also very interesting how such a strong questioning of American imperialism can be made without ever being aggressive about it. I think anyone who sees this film can hardly call it a waste of time. It's quite entertaining and humorous as well. I'm proud of Portuguese cinema for pulling this one out.