Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Filipe Neto This film is a clear example of what makes contemporary Portuguese cinema absolutely disgusting. Moved by sentiments that are certainly anticlerical and atheistic, Carlos Coelho da Silva decided to bring to the cinema one of the most controversial and famous novels by Eça de Queirós, who was not sympathetic to the Catholic Church, but who gifted us with a writing of truly unparalleled beauty. Let me clarify this: the problem with this film is not to be against priests, but to completely distort Queirós work. It's a film without context, just a pretext for sizzling erotic scenes, worthy of a pornographic film, that turn a priest into a kind of "confessional sexual athlete". Why? Because sex sells. Just that.The action of the film completely contradicts the book, so we can say that any similarity is almost coincidental. With the exception of the title and most of the characters, the film does not take advantage of the excellent material of Queirós, preferring to invent a new story in our time, where sex scenes fit better. The most reputable actors are there, but always in supporting roles (Nicolau Breyner, Ana Bustorff, Nuno Melo, José Wallenstein, Diogo Morgado, etc.), leaving the main characters for two weaker colleagues. Jorge Corrula has an angelic aspect in the cloth and Soraia Chaves may not have any talent but she looks great naked, and this was widely used in the film.Needless to say, in an ignorant country like my dear Portugal, such a film was a huge blockbuster. Sex sells... sex involving priests sells even more. Did people read the book to compare, and did they also like good Queiros literature? I doubt that much. A pair of breasts are more appealing than a six-hundred-page book. A national shame.

P G Well,this movie had two good things...Soraia Chaves and more Soraia Chaves. About the rest of the film,it's following the new trend in Portuguese movies,a lot of %%&$%&$$% and badmouth language,at least we saw some great intellectual moments,like the fridge scene(that made me extremely hungry).For those who read the book,this was kind of a disappointment,very weak in terms of plot,bad choice of characters.Good looks doesn't mean good acting...and like I said...the movie is good thanks to Soraia Chaves and thanks to those "intellectual challenging moments",but this was suppose to be a little drama,and I saw almost nothing of drama and a lot of skin,so I can say that the purpose of the movie was not accomplished....the director still needs a lot of practice

ams_mendes I saw this film yesterday on TV. I had just finished reading the book in which the movie was supposedly based. In the opening credits it said "This is a free adaptation of Eça de Queirós' novel". I should have turned off my TV at that moment.Vera Sacramento's idea of "free adaptation" is turning a story about Church's influence over people and the hypocrisy of people claiming morality at the end of the 19th century into a story about sex. In fact, the only thing she adopted from the novel was the sex part, which was only mildly referred in Eça de Queirós' novel. And, of course, the name of some characters.As of the characters, in the novel, Amélia and João Eduardo were victims of church's influence. Amélia was seduced by Father Amaro and all the time she was controlled by him. João Eduardo, her fiancé, was excommungated by the priests, because he dared to criticize them. In this movie, Amélia seduces every one she meets and Father Amaro is just another victim. João Eduardo is a dealer of drugs and illegal weapons.Vera Sacramento has turned a novel which criticized moral costumes of an epoch and turned it into just another movie with lots of (bad) sex. Even worse, her story was completely empty of ideas. Two wasted hours! Eça de Queirós surely did not deserve this.

Pedro Teixeira The first time the i heard talk about this film i thought that it was another bad film... After that i heard a lot of good comments about the film! After i saw the film i was surprised! The history about a priest that can't resist the charm of a woman is very well written and the role of the actors is amazing! In my opinion is one of the best Portuguese films ever made and i think that this film is turning point in Portuguese films! From now on i expect that all Portuguese films become a success as this movie! Go to the cinema or buy it in DVD is the only away of see Portugal growing in film business and saw more successes like this!