Guida Maria
Cristina is twenty years old. Her father was declared missing in action during the war in Angola many years before. One day in church the girl meets a man about fifty years old who tries various times, unsuccessfully, to make the sign of the cross. The man is called Cristovão. A few days later the two meet again. The man offers to help her look for her father. A relationship based on memories and confessions is formed between them. But soon they each return to their own solitude.
This Portuguese movie directed by João Botelho, is part of The Four Elements series. This is the second episode, The Air.
Luís Medeiros, Azorean painter, meets two odd characters in an exhibit in Lisbon: Inês, a charming woman, and Ed, a sneaky man. The two reveal to have with them a precious document that might be threatening to Luís. He brings them back home but his serenity is over due to an unexpected chain of events.
José Pereira, a young medical graduate, meets a young and ardent Maria Eugénia. The time is the eve of the Portuguese Revolution, on 24th April 1974 and only a short time elapses between courtship and marriage. The young pair are very much in love, but José begins to have doubts about the "honesty" of such intense feelings of love, feelings which are too intense (or hot) to him . If Maria Eugénia is like this with him, will she be the same with other men?In the meantime, the Revolution takes its course. José, who previously had been persecuted because of his opposition against the old regime, now feels "left behind" and frustrated.
In the gardens of a large village house belonging to a reclusive architect, a hand is found. In a sign placed at the gates of the property, the architect annouces he will return it to whoever proves to be the owner.
The gritty lives of Portuguese villagers are shown in this action drama which shows the interaction between a married couple who have taken an unusual vow of celibacy and a gang of gypsies who are terrorizing their village. The film highlights many ancient religious traditions still current in these regions, as the villagers, devout Catholics, support the gypsy con-men by buying religious relics from them.
A fussy insurance inspector (Varela Silva) has the mission to investigate why, in three years, 325 employees have passed through a farm shop. In his police demand, he speaks with the maid, the girl Elvira (Fernanda Borsatti) and with the store's boss, Mr. Silva (Henrique Santos). His curiosity will only be satisfied with the arrival of Dona Berta (Elvira Velez), with her "nausea" daughter (Isabel de Castro) and her "unbearable" granddaughter (Guida Maria)
