Change of Life (1966, Portugal, Paulo Rocha)
Over the last decade, there has been a rich supply of Portuguese films coming out yet I recall a time when it difficult to view many Portuguese films legally. The films of Pedro Costa were not yet available via Second Run or Criterion and many of the current New Wave of Portuguese Cinema directors such as Miguel Gomes (Our Beloved Month of August, Tabu, Arabian Nights trilogy), Pedro Pinho (The Nothing Factory) hadn’t directed their first film. The few films that were available were either by the legendary and highly prolific Manoel de Oliveira who kept on directing until his death in 2015 aged 106 years, an early João Pedro Rodrigues title (O Fantasma, Two Drifters, The Ornithologist), a sampling of some horror films, a few family dramas and the odd romantic comedy. This is why the recent viewing of Paulo Rocha’s brilliant 1966 film Change of Life feels like such a fundamental re-calibration of cinema in general.
Rocha’s first two features The Green Years (1963) and Change of Life (1966) have gone through a restoration supervised by Pedro Costa and are widely available across North America, both virtually (via Grasshopper film) and also via select few cinemas across US. The arrival of these two films in 2020 is a monumental event, made especially more important in a year when the release of new cinematic works has been paused.
Rocha’s first two features The Green Years (1963) and Change of Life (1966) have gone through a restoration supervised by Pedro Costa and are widely available across North America, both virtually (via Grasshopper film) and also via select few cinemas across US. The arrival of these two films in 2020 is a monumental event, made especially more important in a year when the release of new cinematic works has been paused.
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