Ala-Arriba! (film)

• Ilidio Rocha Silvestre: Ti Saramago
• Maria Olguim: older woman
• Julha: fisherman's wife
• João Moço: Fischer

Ala- Arriba! is a Portuguese film drama from the year 1942.

Action

The film is set in the fishing environment of Póvoa de Varzim, in northern Portugal. The film's title goes back to the Ala- Arriba - mentioned act of boat -by- country - pulling by human power.

It tells the dramatic story of the love of a young fisherman to the daughter of a rival fisherman and his family. This marked the abysses of human life of fishermen is shown in the face of existential dependence on the threatening sea. Their fateful relationship to the ocean and their sometimes serious psychological and material needs determine the close cooperation in the village community.

Reception

The film was semi - documentary and turned to the two main characters using only local fishermen as amateur actors. The effective staged in contrast lighting of the black and white film, distinctive facial contours of the fishermen are an essential feature of the work, and strengthen its archaic authenticity. There is, in addition to the narrative of a dramatic love and family story, a documentation of the reality of life of fishermen, shown here as an example in Póvoa de Varzim.

The film is considered the first work of the Portuguese film, which won a prize abroad. It was in 1942 awarded the Coppa Mussolini, the then top prize at the International Film Festival of Venice, which was awarded in the year for the last time.

Ala- Arriba! was released in 2003 on DVD from Lusomundo, with more thematically for Fischer- subject matching shorts and newsreel reports of the director Leitão de Barros in the bonus material.