Chafariz das Virtudes

The trailer of the Viennale derives from the invitation of the festival to the filmmaker. It has originated in the connection and during the work on his new 20-minute film O VELHO TH RESTELO which had his world premiere a few weeks ago at the film festival of Venice. In this film, a series of free associative fantasies about literature, history and the figure of the Don Quijote, a water-spouting fountain is to be seen for some moments, a setting which resolves in a cross-fade to sea waves, whilethe voice of the narrator is to be heard.
For his trailer, Oliveira has chosen the same setting. It shows a baroque wall fountain in the Portuguese town of Porto, which is called Chafariz das Virtudes i.e. "The fountain of virtues". Porto is the very town in the north of Portugal in which Manoel de Oliveira was born and has been growing up and which is still today a central reference point of the artist. The fountain, which was dried-out for many years, was brought back to life again especially for this film.
Unlike in O VELHO DO RESTELO the fountain in the Viennale Trailer stands completely for itself: For the duration of one minute and a single shot, accompanied only by the noise of the flowing water.

(Viennale Cataloge, 2014)


Water falls down to the basin of the fountain in an undisturbed rhythm. The babbling water soothes the eye, calms our thoughts. The name of the baroque fountain in the Portuguese town of Porto is “Chafariz das Virtudes”, the “Fountain of Virtues”. Porto is the place where director Manoel de Oliveira, a filmmaker for unbelievable 83 years, was born 105 years ago. The fountain’s play of water was especially restored and reactivated for O VELHO DO RESTELO, a 20-minute short film, the director’s last one so far. The fountain is only featured for a few seconds. It remains a mysterious symbol of the two faces of the country, as the film says, namely both “the Celtic and Arab kingdoms”. To enjoy the Viennale’s trailer, these facts are irrelevant. Its reduced form not only reflects the long career of its director but also the paradoxical capacity of the cinema to capture moments in time.

(Dominik Kamalzadeh)