Carlos Assis

The last three days in the life of Elizabeth of Austria before her assassination

After being left by his fed up wife, an author moves back in with his mother in the hope of finishing his book in peace and quiet.

A portuguese officer, supposedly dead in a mine explosion, is captured by the african guerrilla in Guiné (former portuguese colony) while his beloved wife Laura remain inconsolable in Portugal trying to believe that Jorge is still alive. Meanwhile an old Laura friend, a lieutenant, tries to convince Laura that Jorge is dead. Eduardo has always been a secret Laura lover. The romance between them is however darkened with the phantom shadow of Jorge hanging over them..

Madrugada. Uma padaria no Porto. No meio dos adultos, alguns miúdos fazem pão. Um deles trabalha com uma máquina. Um grito de dor lança a confusão. Maldizendo a sorte, o patrão transporta a criança ferida ao hospital. Jaime acompanha-os. Carrega na mão um saco de gelo com os dedos decepados do amigo. A violência da cena não perturba o sangue frio do patrão que despede Jaime para evitar problemas com a Inspecção do Trabalho. Este é o ponto de partida da aventura de Jaime, um miúdo de 13 anos que trabalha de noite às escondidas dos pais, convencido de que o dinheiro lhe permitirá comprar a felicidade perdida. Jaime não aceita que os pais estejam separados e tudo fará para os juntar de novo.

Lúcia is an independent woman who lives alone in Lisbon. Her father commits suicide leaving her a message on phone recorder, revealing a letter he wrote. However Lúcia can't find it in her father's house. On that visit she ends up meeting with her mother, a known political activist with whom she has a distant and tense relationship. In hope of finding the letter, Lúcia leaves to the farm where she grew up, on an isolated location. There she reencounters Álvaro, an old childhood companion, who shares a little life time he has left between roses and the piano, and the guardian angel that follows and protects her through nocturnal wanderings.

O padre António é um sacerdote por vocação, empenhado e generoso, muito querido das gentes de Vila Daires, uma terra pacata do norte do país. Mas o padre António é também um homem e Vila Daires não é tão pacata como parece. As boas intenções do padre não vão ser suficientes para travar a agudização dos conflitos. E quando o seu destino se cruza com o de Lena, a "ovelha negra" da vila, o padre vai também ele ser forçado a confrontar-se com os seus próprios demónios.

Lisbon, 1938. Mr. Pereira is the editor of the culture section of an evening paper. Although fascism is on the rise in Europe, like in nearby civil war Spain or even inside Portugal itself in the form of Salazar's regime, Pereira only concerns himself with writing bios and translating French novels. Things change after he hires a young writer as his assistant, getting to know also his girlfriend – both opponents to the regime – and reluctantly helps them when they begin to get in trouble for subversive activities. Eventually, he's forced to take a stand...