Review: A Portuguese Perspective on "Will-o'-the-Wisp"
Will-o'-the Wisp opens tomorrow in the US in limited release
I love my country's cinema, so it's only logical I would yearn for its appreciation beyond borders. Yet, sometimes that joy comes suffused with a nagging curiosity. Do foreign audiences 'get' these films? Even when they're praised are they lost in cultural mistranslations? Perhaps that's too narrow a viewpoint that overestimates how closed-off Portuguese cinema is in its specificities. There's a universal appeal to great cinema, audiovisual idioms can transcend national barriers.
Still, I love to talk with non-Portuguese friends about Portuguese cinema they love and find myself learning along the way. Indeed, I'd love to chat about João Pedro Rodrigues' latest, currently enjoying an American release in selected theaters. Even if you don't get all the details of Will-o'-the-Wisp, there's plenty to love, from fireman eroticism to cumshots, musical stylings, and artificiality unleashed. It's an orgasmic blast from beginning to end…