José e Pilar (2010) Online

José e Pilar isn't (just?) a documentary, it's a well crafted story that no one wrote, that unfolded as the 4 years of filming passed by.

You won't just see the Nobel award winner José Saramago, his love for writing and the tremendous respect for the people he wrote for. You will see first hand and for real how two people can be so in sync, so complementary and yet so different.

And how life spins more and faster than the Earth. How some people actually do live forever. And how people sometimes take a long time to find their calling and their true love.

Corny as it may sound said by me, you'll find nothing but beauty in this film.

José & Pilar is one of the best documentaries out there, no doubt about it. The Director Miguel Gonçalves was able to put together Saramago's soul and life, comprising the importance of Pilar del Río in Saramago's world. Saramago's struggle to fight the right battles and live his life in accordance with his believes are extraordinary lessons of humanity and social sensibility. Moreover, Pilar's role in Saramago's life and her love for him are simply unique. The mixture of romance and wisdom gives the tone of the movie and it is a privilege to watch the Literature Noble Prize Winner in his intimacy, following his day by day routine, surrounded by his books, lover and, of course, the ocean... The volcanic island shoots are amazing! To sum up, the documentary is outstanding and deserves top score. I doubt anyone thinks otherwise...

I'm a José Saramago reader for about 15 years. This documentary it's just mind blowing. I saw it we my girlfriend and at the end I find myself thinking that the love between José and Pilar was a beautiful thing to see. In this documentary, you can really understand what about a relationship should really be. Fernando Meirelles did a great job showing everyone how brilliant and talented José Saramago was. I think everyone will be really touched with their love: "If I died at 63 before I meet Pilar, I would died a lot older then I am right now..." hi said. Really miss his books. "I think we are blind. Blind people who can see, but do not see" J.Saramago

It's so hard to make an engaging documentary. The usual process is to make the facts of stories you're supposed to be told into a coherent narrative line, even if in reality that line isn't so clear. That will provide the audiences with a story, something to follow. But how you follow that story is usually in a more external way than how you watch fiction, because in documentary you can't or won't have the same devices to fold you into the thing. You have always that trick on reenact some stuff, if the theme is history. That's lame to me, and lazy.

Now here you have something really interesting. The film shows us countless excerpts of the lives of the 2 protagonists throughout the course of about 2 years. The film is presented as a reportage, more than a documentary, meaning that images are what you make of it, words come up apparently loosely. No bent narrative is delivered to you. Or so it seems.

Underneath this apparently random display of images, there's a subtle layered structure. The life of the couple José/Pilar in the period of the film mapped to the story of the elephant in the book Saramago is writing. The story that this film displays mapped into the larger story of Saramago's life, with all its weight in the story of literature and Portuguese culture, as we get it in between the lines in several moments of the narrative. The whole idea of journey and encounter mapped into the love story of José and Pilar.

And ultimately, as the title denounces, that story is central here. The idea of a pair of people bound by the art of one of them, who chooses to share it, allow the other half to be a part of it. Live as one, that's the beautiful part of the story. I'm glad they chose to share a bit of that story with as, by allowing us to get into it.

His art matters. He is a humanist, has profound ideas, truly powerful ideas, and changed language, invented a new way on which people can express.

There is one moment when the metaphor for journey mapped into people's lives is perfect: in Saramago's hometown, one street has his name, another street which crosses the other one has her name. Crossed paths.

My opinion: 4/5

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José Saramago's figure was outstanding. One had to read his books till the end. But, most fascinating was his relationship with a more outstanding woman, Pilar del Rio. This tender documentary really shows us the ties that put them together along the years. A love story that outfits time and space. A real thing. The director shows us the daily routine of José and Pilar and the tenderness of gestures, beyond words. One understands very well what they felt for each other from the day they first met till the death of Saramago and the desire of Pilar to fulfill a true wish: to have his ashes divided in Lanzarote and Portugal, the founding of a Foundation in Lisboa, and the visits to his birthplace Azinheira do Ribatejo.

José+Pilar Is a real scenes movie, about real love. An extreme felling, a felling of love for the spouse and everyone else, shown during the writing of a legacy without rest. "For the over 20 years", by José Saramago (Nobel-laureate novelist). A man born in the middle of nowhere, in a '20s Portugal who became a self- made man, a pure soul.

I loved to see some epic ideals expressed in video (about life and death), as well as Saramago's repeated answers to the repeated questions made by the media.

In Portugal, the movie ran on public television in prime-time, and that was an unusual fact.

The scenes has a very interesting rhythm and music.

The Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago was never an easy writer or agreeable public figure. Moreover, his political inclinations, a mixture of Iberism and Communism, were quite the opposite of mine. So I must admit that I sat down to watch the documentary with some degree of prejudice.

However the opening and the quality of the photography captivated me immediately and I could not stop wandering how the Director managed to make such a remarkably enjoyable documentary with such persona.

It certainly helped the fact that his young wife – Pilar – is such a lively and interesting person. She is the personification of the vibrant qualities we find among modern Spaniards. But what captivated me more was how she could devote herself so intensely to an elderly and sick husband.

The Director, being himself an admirer of José, did not attempt to color or capture only the rosy moments of the Portuguese writer. He gives a truthful and yet endearing image of the couple.

The secret probably lies in the way he manages to show that love knows no age barriers. Undoubtedly, this is an Oscar-winning candidate.

It's all very easy to reduce a documentary like this to just that: a documentary. I like to think of it as a window, nay, a door. I'm Portuguese and, beside a theatre play my dad bought for me and made me stand in line to have it signed by Saramago when I was a child, I never managed to enjoy reading his books. Loved the stories, struggled with the novels.

So, it was a huge surprise when I discovered this man, playful and witty as dense and morose; when I discovered his wife, thus far a very behind-the-scenes person, very outspoken but seldom seen; and the mere thought of having heaps of footage and manage to edit years of shadowing the couple to a mere two hours, seamlessly stitched together.

I couldn't help but feel deeply moved by the episodes the film depicts, the portraits the camera takes all the way through time and the love story between a rather senior Portuguese writer and a rather younger Spanish journalist. In Portugal, we say, 'love knows no age.' It does, actually. However, it knows no time. And that's what 'José And Pilar' tells us.

I fell compelled to send a copy to all my friends who, as I, live outside Portugal. It really is that good. Watch it and make sure you take it all in.

This is a story about love and about truth.

The honesty starts behind the camera - Miguel Gonçalves Mendes captured that truth as if he wasn't there. And therefore, he was, inside and aside. That is exactly what gives us this enormous feeling of getting to know the intimate being of one of the greatest writers of all times: Saramago and his Pilar.

There's something curious about the movie title "José and Pilar" - "pilar" (as "pillar") in Portuguese means "firm, upright, insulated support for a superstructure".

Pilar was indeed the pillar for Saramago. And so was he to her the other way around, as in great love stories must be.

Yeah, that's a "love story."

...or given the message of his books, profoundly hypocritical in his own life

This film, as Variety has mentioned, definitely blurs the line between documentary and fiction -If one does not recognize the protagonists - it could just as well be a fictional film about Love - as it should be.

The film is captivating, avoids sentimentality and becomes expansive in your mind days after viewing. Will probably have to see it various times to really capture the organic magic that Goncalves has created in Jose and Pilar.

As a side note, it is curious to note that Saramago not only wrote the Elephant's Journey during this film but 2 more stories, Cain and The Notebook after the film ...

It is a hopeful piece of film. Just beautiful.

"Jose & Pilar", that was directed by the Portuguese director Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, is a result of a co production from El Deseo( in Spain), to which the so well famous Pedro Almodover is related to, from the O2 ( in Brasil), which is the self writer/director Fernando Meirelles ́ cinematographic company, and from the Jump Cut ( in Portugal ), to which Miguel Gonçalves Mendes is member. This documentary is the most intimidate portrait of the book-writer Jose Saramago and his wife Pilar del Rio ́s life, a story between Jose and Pilar and it deals also with their love to Life.

Within this film "Jose and Pilar" It is possible that we embrace these two wonderful people, who have an unique, particular perspective about the world in addition to the whole rush of their daily lives. The film follows all the process of book writing in " the elephant journey", that is from the first idea ( 2006) to its launch and from the first idea to the launching date of another book of his, which was "Cain " what will happen at the end of 2008 only, passing through Saramago ́s illness leaving him very fragile which had also delayed its writing process.

In three acts told we will acknowledge all the hard work of the couple through the rides and flights worldwide, in press conferences, meetings and autographs sessions . Nearly Saramago ́s Bibliotheque be inaugurated in Lanzarote, it was also when he began processing his new book "The elephant journey" In the second act, Saramago due to the stress his life had turn to be and overwork, Pilar called his agenda off because his husband mood was getting worse. Having been in the hospital for several months, during this period in which he had almost faced death. In the third act as he was already strengthened and he got on he vigorously start writing the book.

For several months certainly we aware his writing until the opening of a biggest exhibition ever done in our Nobel prize of literature . In 2008 his book is real edited in Brasil.During his return home, he had an idea to his new book "Cain".

Jose and Pilar is so a transparent documentary that we really get in touch with the real selves of these two people who love each other. Saramago is a very intelligent and good sense of humored man, with such a strong will to change the world. Therefore it is an optimistic documentary. Even though in his most difficulty moments he never looses the hope, his faith not even his sense of humor. Moreover Pilar del Rio is a very strong and determined woman, who always knew what her wishes were, the prime female defender of women rights. Dedicated wife,as she was,she loved him so much that she followed him everywhere. They were in a very closed relationship. They were made for each other. In other words Saramago without Pilar was not Saramago and Pilar was not Pilar without Saramago.

Due to more than 240 hours of shooting, Miguel reached at a 2 hours long documentary. The crew went with the couple to some countries such as Finland Brasil including Portugal. Miguel ́s camera is so fantastic that all the public felt inside the screen, standing side by side to Jose and Pilar and as soon as the film ends it seems we had lived with them more than 3 years time.Thus we view them as if they were our two friends. The film is edited in high quality conditions it has experimental moments and besides it has a good sonority band. Unfortunately on the 18th June this year Saramago passed away without having even/ever seen the final version of this documentary.

Crítica Cinema 7ª Arte www.cinema7arte.com

José & Pilar is a charming film that shows what the collaboration between Spain and Portugal is capable of producing. It's a shame joint efforts of this type are not more regularly forthcoming. Although it is Saramago who enjoys international renown, the film cannot be considered a hagiographic and exclusive tribute to the figure of the author. Saramago's Spanish better half, Pilar del Río occupies an equally important part. She is never overshadowed by her husband; an equal amount of that footage that does not feature the two together is very equally devoted to each individually. Thus we discover how irreplaceable Pilar had made herself in José's life as a companion, a translator, a personal secretary organizing his hectic agenda outside of those hours devoted to his literary production, a lifelong admirer and defender of his work. Any Portuguese or Spaniard who adheres to the ideals of Iberism ─ a romantic ambition to live in an Iberian Peninsula where the two countries would merge with Lisbon as its capital would find in this film the materialization of its theories. Spanish and Portuguese are the languages spoken in equal doses throughout the film, the director, Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, is Portuguese, Pedro Almodóvar is one of the various producers; the film takes us back and forth from Lanzarote in Spain where José and Pilar reside, to Lisbon or Azinhaga, Saramago's town of birth. All elements combine to create an atmosphere of total naturalness as far as being Spanish or Portuguese is concerned. Even the union between José and Pilar could be taken for a metaphor of that union between the two countries that republicans and left-wingers and romantics have worked toward. But apart from these minor observations, the core of the film is the life of the author as a creator, his ups and downs with the Portuguese government, which led to his self-exile in Lanzarote, his continuous and exhausting travels to the four corners of the earth to promote his books, attend book fairs, participate in congresses and sign copies bought by his readers and his refusal, considering his age, to simply sit down and take it easy. As he gets older the need to carry on working acquires the urgency of one who knows that death is on his tail. Above all the film is a testimony to the deep love José and Pilar profess for each other. It's not a love that manifests itself in words but rather tender gestures, mutual respect, clasping hands, the loving tone of voice used when addressing each other and at all times a love that transmits itself through the looks they proffer each other. It is truly moving the way the director has captured so much complicity and intimacy. A very surprising element in the film is Saramago's very peculiar sense of humour which Pilar often reacts to with no inferior sense of fun. The public watching this film at the Filmoteca in Madrid had a lot of laughs and as the film's credits started appearing indicating that the film had reached its end, there was a very generous round of applause for an enthralling documentary that kept us glued to our seats for close to two hours. José & Pilar was entered by Portugal in an unsuccessful bid to get it nominated in the Best Foreign Film category of the Oscars. This film is most likely not commercial enough for Hollywood. I would go even further and add that it's too good for Hollywood.

I have watched it maybe three or four times over the years. I love the scenery, which is their homeplace, but mostly the way the camera captures it. Love Pilar's beauty and energetic mind. Love how Saramago is a sort of philosopher without being it, specially when he says he is tired of the efford of "looking smart/pretending to be intelligent". I love how they love each other so much, and how they devoted themselves to each other and to the happy marriage and union of Portugal with Spain throughout literature. I keep watching it and learning more from both. How authentic he was, can you blame him for being a comunist and an atheist? That's just who he was. Well wrapped in his beliefs. Love them, love the work the director made with such precious material.

I didn't know anything about this documentary before seeing it. For me this is strange because I often read many reviews or at least take a glance at reviews, see the casting, make sure that the film is something I want to see. I have never even read but one of Jose Saramago's work -- a short story titled The Tale of the Unknown Island. But what a beautiful tale it was! It was only because I loved that story and that I read this was a documentary detailing the last few years of his life, that I decided to see it. I didn't know that it was really him on screen, and that it was really his wife.

It's a beautiful documentary. There is no plot, of course. There are moments though which happen naturally and which pile together, and the truth of those moments makes this a pleasure to see. Moments like Saramago waiting for his laptop to open up, and that sound of Windows welcome screen. Moments where he climbs a mountain. Sick moments when he is frail and feels he is closest to death. All throughout, the small gestures he shares with his wife, cupping the back of her head, ruffling her hair as they walk. This documentary is said to be a love story and I can see why. There are no long and passionate kisses, no sex, no convoluted chase as he tries to "win" her over -- instead, this is a story of two people in love twenty years after their being together. The small ways in which they know each other through and through. The nightmares he has when he thinks he will die -- they are not about death, or fear of death/retribution -- Saramago is famously and outspokenly an atheist -- but rather calling out for Pilar, and being unable to reach to her.

For a Nobel prize winner, it can be expected how busy Saramago and his wife's schedules are. Yet what bothered me at first seeing this documentary was the kind of distaste he had for his fans. One of the scenes in the beginning were of Pilar sorting through his mail and tearing up most of the fan mail which they get in bulk nearly every week while making sarcastic comments about them. He hates being photographed or autographing yet goes again and again to events which he knows will require that of him. To me it felt somehow ungrateful, as these readers were responsible for his work being known, published, loved and if he was unable to participate in the publicity he could simply decline coming to those events.

Of course I can understand as well the need for his personal life, his private life. Nevertheless, the fact that this sort of elitist sentiment was so overt in the documentary balanced out the image of him. He isn't heralded as saint -- he's just a man.

The documentary also chronicles the process of him writing The Elephant's Journey one of the last books he wrote before his death in 2010, and the metaphor of the elephant whose journey would have passed by, anonymously, if he hadn't written about it felt to me a metaphor for his own life, for his own passing which would have gone by without event if it wouldn't have been for his work. Yet he is humble too, and reached international acclaim when he was in his sixties.

I liked: Some beautiful quotes. Saramago often spoke of himself as a confirmed "pessimist" so his dry wit and sense of humor really made this pleasurable to see. Natural acting. It felt intimate, and special.

I disliked: For some moments it seemed to drag on a little too long.

83/100 A beautiful and moving documentary about the life of a writer and the woman he loved. I think anyone could enjoy this. It's just a simple, well told and profound story.

Read more reviews at: www.theordinaryreview.blogspot.com

A true love story indeed and a real one. The Portuguese novelist José Saramago (1998 Nobel Prize winner) knew in the second half of his life, by chance, the Spanish journalist Pilar Del Rio, more than 20 years younger than him and they fell in love with each other almost at once. They lived together till his death in 2010. From a certain moment on they went to live in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) since he found much more support from the Spanish authorities than from the Portuguese ones at the time. They eventually married each other. This movie shows the last years of their lives in a documentary form with great quality. The images speak for themselves without the need of great explanations and the dialogues between the couple and with other people are so natural, spontaneous and true and supported by a very intelligent shooting and cut that we can feel how that relationship between novelist and wife is illuminated by a true love, a love that doesn't have great visual expression in manners and attitudes but whose depth we can feel in the constant cooperation and assistance Pilar gives to José not only personal but also and very important, in his writing activities, being simultaneously a careful and loving wife and an efficient secretary and public relations. Thus she contributed very much to his literary success and we can also feel his gratitude for that. This documentary real love story will touch you more than many fiction movies of the same kind.