FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

*The Day of Despair

In some respects this is largely a footnote to the two towering works of Portuguese master Manoel de Oliveira, Doomed Love (1978) and Francisca (1981). The first of these is a four-hour adaptation of Camilo Castelo Branco’s classic 19th-century novel that deserves a place alongside Greed and Berlin Alexanderplatz as one of the key translations of a novel into film; the second, nearly three hours long, adapts a novel about Castelo Branco himself. The 76-minute The Day of Despair (1992), which completes the Castelo Branco trilogy, is derived from the correspondence of the novelist, whose growing blindness drove him to take his own life at the age of 65. Made when de Oliveira was 83, it’s a reflective, spare modernist work–less accessible than his more recent The Valley of Abrabam, but much more moving than that film or the vastly inferior The Divine Comedy (1991), shown at the Chicago Film Festival last year. It’s a thoughtful and provocative introduction to the greatest of all Portuguese filmmakers. (JR) (Pipers Alley, 7:15)

Tales and Tallies of the Courtyard

This documentary by filmmaker and anthropologist Elaine de Latour was shot inside the closed quarters reserved for the wives and children of an Islamic chieftain in Nigeria. It’s respectful and rather slow paced, yet offers sufficient surprises and contradictions to hold the viewer’s interest. For instance, even though confined, some of the women are successful entrepreneurs, running their businesses through male intermediaries. But oddly enough, one can’t avoid the impression that the more things change, the more they remain the same. As the first four wives talk about the high cost of marrying off their daughters and share their feelings about the chief’s attraction for his new and younger fifth wife, I could have sworn I was overhearing a conversation at my local coffeehouse. (PE) (Pipers Alley, 9:15)

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See listing under Friday, October 8. (Pipers Alley, 3:00) Inge, April and May See listing under Friday, October 8. (Pipers Alley, 3:00) Shorts Program #1 Kieron J. Walsh’s Shooting to Stardom, Myles Connell’s In Uncle Robert’s Footsteps, David Munro’s Bullethead, Andrew Kotting’s Smart Alek, and Kevin Burget’s Park Tragedy. (Music Box, 3:00)

Something Within Me

See listing under Friday, October 8. (Pipers Alley, 3:15)

One Nation Under God

A documentary on the changing attitudes toward gays in America over the last four decades, this is a fascinating collage: part history of homosexuality, part chronicle of a gay relationship, and part indictment of the growing influence of new Christian groups like Exodus International that seek to transform gays into heterosexuals. The inclusion of rare medical footage of psychotherapeutic techniques once used to “cure” gays through reparative therapy, aversion therapy, and “orgasmic-reassignment” therapy may seem horrifying, sad, outrageous, even humorous by today’s standards. But as the film proves, homophobia is still alive and well. (PE) (Music Box, 5:15)

Morocco Body and Soul Music Program #1

The first of two programs devoted to short films by Izza Genini about Morocco and its music; included here are Hymns of Praise, Gnaouas, and Aita. (Pipers Alley, 7:15)