It has been described as a ballad and as a ‘blood-stained musical’:, which doesn’t mean that the actors sing their lines…. on the banks of River Douro, in the north of Portugal.
The Gold River tells of a bloody crime and of a tragical jealousy involving middle-aged Carolina (Isabel Ruth), a passionate redhead whose hobby consists of beekeeping; her husband Antonio (Brazilian veteran actor Lima Duarte), the captain of a dredger boat, Carolina’s young niece Melita (Joana Barcia) and Ze (Joao Cardoso), who earns his living selling gold from town to town.
Directed and scripted by Paulo Rocha, The Gold River explores the director’s own mystical memories of this region of Portugal.
Portugal/Brazil, 1998. English subtitles. Colour. 100 mins.