A Talking Picture

A Talking Picture — Plot

A meditation on civilization. July, 2001: friends wave as a cruise ship departs Lisbon for Mediterranean ports and the Indian Ocean. On board and on day trips in Marseilles, Pompeii, Athens, Istanbul, and Cairo, a professor tells her young daughter about myth, history, religion, and wars. Men approach her; she's cool, on her way to her husband in Bombay. After Cairo, for two evenings divided by a stop in Aden, the captain charms three successful, famous (and childless) women, who talk with wit and intellect, each understanding the others' native tongue, a European union. The captain asks mother and child to join them. He gives the girl a gift. Helena sings. Life can be sweet.

• Release date
• August 31, 2003
• Runtime
• 96 min
• Genres
• Drama, History
• Director
• Manoel de Oliveira

A Talking Picture — Cast

Leonor Silveira Rosa Maria Filipa de Almeida Maria Joana John Malkovich Comandante John Walesa Catherine Deneuve Delfina Stefania Sandrelli Francesca Irene Papas Helena Luís Miguel Cintra Himself Ricardo Trêpa Oficial