The Last Dive (1992) User Reviews

Lasting but Slow

[souvikmeetszeus · 8/10 · 28 January 2014]

Another exceptional experience from the Portuguese auteur, this one is a strange tale of life and death, yes the simple topics presented in his oblique manner. As always his language remains a little elusive, just out of reach in its context/implication and honestly speaking this guy has a strange but sparkling way of narrating stories. Here, a young man called Samuel is about to jump in the bay when saved by an old guy who also plans do to the same, they go for a tour around the city together, one finds meaning and the other does not, and the several layers in the story is cleverly done. Well it is lesser than his other works I have seen so far but then again even if it is pseudo-philosophical, Monteiro's execution of certain long sequences is technically and aesthetically a delight to watch. It will not be of much meaning but his images have a trance like hold on you. And he is the master of lighting and depth. He shoots his film in such a fantastical tone, and that comes from his lighting, that his stories invariably take epic proportions, also helped by the dialog. This movie too bears his dark take on sexuality and his sharp sense of humor, and except the dance sequence (which I found very strange and inexplicable but filmed powerfully and emotionally) the movie is quite accessible and a tragicomic tale of all that goes on. The women are really beautiful and the city is filmed with elegance. Overall, the visuals are as always brilliant, and the story has its fair share of moments, but the film is probably a bit too slow for its own good.

A confused way of mapping down lust, life and death

[umyde · 5/10 · 15 October 2002]

The one great thing about this movie is its subject. Never before have I seen in cinema an exchange of the type shown here: a mid-aged man offers a suicidal teenager the lust of life and, in return, gets his peace from suicide. Only the way this is mapped down, as a cinematic object, is somewhat confusing. Also, many sequences take two long, with no apparent purpose.