Film that takes as a starting point the exhibition Pedro Costa: Company — an exhibition dedicated to the Portuguese filmmaker that could also be seen as a collective, given that he was flanked by artists such as Picasso, Bresson, António Reis, John Ford, Jeff Wall, Godard, Rui Chafes or Charlie Chaplin — to continue to create a dialogue between the Portuguese director and the figures that haunt his imagination.
It is not the usual documentary about an artist, in this case the filmmaker Pedro Costa, nor a synthesis of the whole of his work. Among other merits Sacavém finds an angle to speak of a major figure of contemporary cinema without resorting to the usual methods or to mimic Costa’s cinema. Júlio Alves finds a fair distance to read the work without the weight of reverence, connecting characters and recurring objects, starting from Casa de Lava to the next film, showing the continuity between the vision of the director and the world that inspires him (a singular form of realism haunted by ghosts and memories). Pedro Costa’s elusive presence in the film, is an example of a solitary and artisanal work ethic of which the films are the most eloquent demonstration. (N.S.)
António, Zé Maria and João live in the House as they build it. For two years they restarted processes over and over according to their functions in the House. The transformations of the rooms forces constant changes in its organization. The rooms for eating, dressing or relaxing change. As do the inhabitants. Time passes. The inhabitants move into and out of shot. The camera doesn’t follow them. It stays there focusing on the particular. Natural light invades the geometric spaces, intensifying as the work advances. The sound environment also changes. The silences intensify. The contrasts are stronger and stronger. At the end we see the men who make the film for some, the work for others, or simply a house.