No, or the Vain Glory of Command | |
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Directed by | Manoel de Oliveira |
Produced by | Paulo Branco |
Written by | Manoel de Oliveira P. João Marques |
Starring | Luís Miguel Cintra |
Cinematography | Elso Roque |
Edited by | Manoel de Oliveira |
Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
Country | Portugal |
Language | Portuguese |
No, or the Vain Glory of Command (Portuguese: Non, ou a Vã Gloria de Mandar) is a 1990 Portuguese film directed by Manoel de Oliveira. The film, starring Luís Miguel Cintra and Miguel Guilherme, depicts a series of defeats from the entire military history of Portugal – the assassination of Viriathus, the Battle of Toro, the failed attempt of Iberian Union under Afonso of Portugal and Isabella of Spain and the Battle of Alcácer Quibir – and the Lusiads episode of the Island of love, which are told through flashbacks as a professorish Portuguese soldier recounts them while marching through a Portuguese African overseas territory in 1973, during the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–74). He easily draws his comrades into philosophical musings, while the little contingent suffers surprise attacks by groups of independentist guerrillas.
It was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.