A Cara que Mereces

The Face You Deserve

(Portugal, 2004, 107 minutes)

A sullen primary school teacher falls ill with the measles on his 30th birthday and dreams seven alter egos are taking care of him in a country house. Freeform, overlong comedy-drama of arrested development that falls outside all standard definitions of genre or narrative; technically quite accomplished and full of clever movie-buff winks, it will be as infuriating for most as intriguing for some.

An O Som e a Fúria presentation/production; supported by ICAM; co-financed by RTP. Starring José Airosa, Gracinda Nave, Pedro Caldas, Rui Catalão, Carloto Cotta, António Pedro Figueiredo, Ricardo Gross, Manuel Mozos, João Nicolau. Directed by Miguel Gomes; produced by Sandro Aguilar, João Figueiras; written by Miguel Gomes, Manuel Mozos, Telmo Churro; music by Mariana Ricardo; director of photography (Tobis), Rui Poças; production designer, Luísa Perdigoto; costume designer, Sílvia Grabowski; film editors, Sandro Aguilar, Miguel Gomes.