The People We Civilized

The People We Civilized

1944 · 18 min

Interesting, almost ethnographic, sequences on peoples of southern and central Angola, show the diversity of their customs and the richness of their cultures. The images often of quality are not devoid of a dominant look that frames them as exotic. The Euro-centric commentary on the exaltation of “lusitanity” is rather paternalistic and even contemptuous: “All these peoples are Portuguese and love Portugal, what a wonderful destiny it is for this country that came to civilize them and lead them on the paths of spirituality after having opened the roads of the world.”

Directed by António Lopes Ribeiro

Your Rating

Make it a double feature

58m together

The People We Civilized

Lisboa de Hoje e de Amanhã

Both from António Lopes Ribeiro.

More from António Lopes RibeiroSee all →

30 years with Salazar

30 years with Salazar · 1957

30 years with Salazar

MovieDocumentary

Evocation of Salazar's birth, his passage through Coimbra and salient facts of his political life.

Lisboa de Hoje e de Amanhã

Lisboa de Hoje e de Amanhã · 1948

Lisboa de Hoje e de Amanhã

MovieDocumentary

Recent population growth in the capital leads to an ambitious development plan, involving public and private initiative as documented here, pinpointing over 60 locations (streets, roads, parks, schools) being modernized or built anew. The narrative and soundtrack are grandiloquent, in the propaganda style required by the Producer (the Municipal Council of Lisbon, then directly dependent of the national government), but the images and data are now of historical relevance.

The Courtyard of the Ballads

The Courtyard of the Ballads · 1942

The Courtyard of the Ballads

MovieMusicComedy

A portrait of the relations between neighbours in a Lisbon courtyard. A story made of small episodes of humour, friendship, rivalry, love.

Gado Bravo

Gado Bravo · 1934

A love triangle set in Lisbon between German singer Nina, bullfighter Garrido and local girl Branca.

Nazaré, Praia de Pescadores e Zona de Turismo

Nazaré, Praia de Pescadores e Zona de Turismo · 1929

Nazaré, Praia de Pescadores e Zona de Turismo

MovieDocumentary

The first Portuguese documentary. A remarkable look at the lives of the working people of Nazaré, a fishing town in Western Portugal.

The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door · 1945

The Girl Next Door

MovieRomanceComedy

The story of how the conflicting relationship of Eduardo and vaudeville actress Isabel is affected by the passion he feels for their neighbor, Mariana, a young overprotected, and the unexpected visit of his uncle Plácido, a moral teacher.

Chuva na Areia

Chuva na Areia · 1985

The Tyrannical Father

The Tyrannical Father · 1941

The Tyrannical Father

MovieFamilyComedy

While rehearsing the annual play, a clerk tries to regain the attention of his beloved, in a comedy of equivoques.

Aniki-Bóbó

Aniki-Bóbó · 1942

MovieDramaFamily

Two schoolboys, Carlitos and Eduardo, fight for the affection of a girl, Teresinha.

The Spell of the Empire

The Spell of the Empire · 1940

The Spell of the Empire

Luís immigrated to the USA and intends to become an American. But after his father invites him on a journey to the Portuguese territories in Africa, he will find true love, and also learn to value his country and its colonial grandeur.

The May Revolution

The May Revolution · 1937

The May Revolution

The most well-known fascist propaganda film in Portugal. A communist man falls in love with a woman of Salazarian beliefs and changes his way of looking at things.

As Rodas de Lisboa

As Rodas de Lisboa · 1951

As Rodas de Lisboa

MovieDocumentary

Camões

Camões · 1946

MovieDramaHistory

The adventurous life of Portugal's epic poet, Luis de Camões.

O Primo Basílio

O Primo Basílio · 1959

O Primo Basílio

Jorge, a successful engineer and employee of a ministry and Luísa, a romantic and dreamy girl, star as the typical bourgeois couple of the Lisbon society of the 19th century.

Frei Luís de Sousa

Frei Luís de Sousa · 1950

Frei Luís de Sousa

MovieDramaFamily

Seven years after the disastrous Battle of Alcácer Quibir, where King Sebastian and the nobleman Dom João disappeared, the latter's wife Dona Madalena de Vilhena finally gives up hope that he'll return and marries the knight Dom Manuel de Sousa Coutinho, with whom she has a daughter, who is afflicted by a fatal illness. Now only the tutor Telmo Pais retains the hope that the lost husband is alive, a premonition that may be confirmed after two decades, with the arrival of a mysterious pilgrim...

Maria of the Sea

Maria of the Sea · 1930

Maria of the Sea

MovieDramaRomance

Falacha is the captain of a fishing boat, who loses his men in a shipwreck. Among them was the husband of Aurélia, who holds Falacha responsible for the tragedy. Maria, Falacha's daughter, falls in love with Manuel, Aurélia's son, a situation that their mothers refuse to accept.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter