Alfama´s Lovebirds

I won´t lie to you,but The Lovebirds (2007) isn´t exactly "the sharpest tool in the shed"_ cinematographically speaking that is. I won´t be so bold to tell you that this is a great movie,to be frank in my opinion this is just average cinema;However_for me a Portuguese citizen born and practically raised in Lisbon city The Lovebirds is much more than a mere curiosity,for there are certain nuances upon it that made me smile out of pure joy. It is a great link between Portugal and the U.S. but it´s much more than that,it is indeed a great link between two very different cities (Lisbon and New York) but each with a similar "soul" that makes these two seem almost like siblings that were separated from each other when they were born for some mysterious reason.


The Lovebirds is almost like a reunion of these two after many years where they share similar stories among each other in some Bar filled with cigarette smoke after hours on a rotten part of town (wherever that is), even though these "stories" took place in very different atmospheres, there is that sense of Deja Vu that only siblings seem to be aware. Maybe I´m "pushing the envelope" I´m no film critic, I´m just an ordinary guy that likes "the movies" but It was great to watch on the same screen and sharing the same background a couple of great actors that I really respect such as Michael Imperioli and John Ventimiglia ( you probably know these two from the Sopranos) with a few faces known to me from the Portuguese movie screens.

There was much more to say but i´m not that good with words (even in my native tongue) I´ll leave with with a short clip from The Lovebirds I found on YouTube and ask of you to watch it to the very end where you can see a very short dialogue between Michael Imperioli and Ana Padrão a Portuguese Actress,and maybe just maybe you will find out why I love this movie._BB

Michael Imperioli _Those buildings down there are so, old...look how they lean against each other crumbling ! It´s like they´re holding each other up for stability but if you´d just touch one, they´d all fall apart and break.


Ana Padrão_ You know?...earthquake?!

Michael Imperioli_Yeah,1755 right ?All of Lisbon got destroyed.

Ana Padrão_Not Alfama...not us.

Michael Imperioli_You survived !

Ana Padrão_Yes !
 
*All underlined words are linked to Web pages.