O Cerco

She has been compared to Monica Vitti, not that their bodies or faces are alike, but because they were two actresses extremely photogenic and of whose faces you can't deviate your eyes for a minute.

The director is obviously in love with this young, boyish, devilish attractive woman. We wonder how he felt when the character of a photographer on location (on one of Lisbon's most scenic gardens) hugs her, and rolls with her under a water shower...

The story is grim - the siege (as the title says in Portuguese) of a young, defenceless woman by all the preying men (and if you're attentive to the innuendos... the women) around her. The film opens with big plans of Maria Cabral's face, and then a thin strip goes geometrically around her, encircling her. I believe that is a piece of film - and the director does encircle his subject, 'Marta', from all possible angles, in all situations you may think of.

Both to recall places, and music of the early 1970s, and not to miss this great (short-lived for the movies) star, you should try to get your eyes on this movie.