Cartas da Guerra (2016)
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Directors
Cast
Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova, Ricardo Pereira
A young doctor sent to fight in Angola relies on letters from his pregnant wife to endure a war marked by fear, danger, and long stretches of boredom.
The story
In 1971, young doctor António is conscripted into military service and sent to a fiercely contested area of Angola, leaving behind his pregnant wife. The two write to each other whenever they can, sharing feelings and longings across the distance. Their letters sustain António through the monotonous routine of shabby military camps and life among traumatized soldiers. Around him, guerrilla warfare brings moments of mortal danger as well as long periods of tense quiet and boredom. He thinks about those he has left at home, his future, and the purpose of the war, while his wife's letters offer an intimate connection to the life he has been forced to leave behind.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The young doctor António is conscripted into military service and sent to Angola, where in 1971 he finds himself in a fiercely contested area. He leaves behind his pregnant wife, and they write to each other as often as they can. These letters, in which the separated couple share their feelings and longings, sustain António through the monotonous routine of the shabby military camps, among the traumatized soldiers. The harsh daily life of guerrilla warfare offers the often still-young men little distraction from their fears and desires. Between adrenaline-fueled moments of mortal danger and the few moments of entertainment, the soldiers spend long stretches in tense quiet and boredom, thinking about those they have left at home, their own futures, and also the purpose and pointlessness of the war. António thinks above all about his wife and the child born in the meantime, and he keeps rereading her letters, hearing them in his mind in her yearning voice.
Genres
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