Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, 2018)

[lzx]

US trailer for Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt's Diamantino;

And the Portuguese trailer, featuring an utterly charming commentary by the titular character.

[domino harvey]

There’s no way any movie could be as good as this cover

[therewillbeblus]

Diamantino: This Portuguese political surrealistic satire outdoes Bacurau and then some. I wasn’t prepared for the places it went and don’t want to give anything away but if you’re a fan of the absurd comedies that are intelligent underneath the thick coating of insanity, watch this immediately. There’s definitely a serious context too and claustrophobic gritty camerawork that diversifies moods is used effectively, but I was laughing up a storm to complement the implications of the darker content. The paths that the filmmakers and actors navigate take the material seriously in playing the most ridiculous of ideas completely straight, a testament to the collaborative effort of various skillsets to achieve such unique vision. I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was being thought up in the writer’s room.

[knives]

Diamantino: This Portuguese political surrealistic satire outdoes Bacurau and then some. I wasn’t prepared for the places it went and don’t want to give anything away but if you’re a fan of the absurd comedies that are intelligent underneath the thick coating of insanity, watch this immediately. There’s definitely a serious context too and claustrophobic gritty camerawork that diversifies moods is used effectively, but I was laughing up a storm to complement the implications of the darker content. The paths that the filmmakers and actors navigate take the material seriously in playing the most ridiculous of ideas completely straight, a testament to the collaborative effort of various skillsets to achieve such unique vision. I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was being thought up in the writer’s room.

This was pretty brilliant and definitely hilarious. I particularly liked the multi-modal aesthetic the film used to emphasize how technology effects people's perspectives. I think the thing that keeps the film from being horrifying isn't the comedy (Greenaway does some similar things for a disturbing experience with tons of humour), but that Diamantino is such a pleasant goober. He's so sincere despite all of the horribleness that the film can't help but keep a smile on the face.