God's Comedy (1996)

The Portuguese film A Comédia de Deus was shown in the U.S. with the title, God's Comedy (1995). The movie was written and directed by João César Monteiro, who also stars in the film.This movie carries a respectable IMDb rating of 7.2. When I see a rating this high for a film this bad, I ask myself, "Did they see the same movie I saw?"Here's a film about about an older man who seduces young girls and maintains a pubic hair collection. He gives one young woman a milk bath, then strains the milk to collect the hair. The movie has been described as "an oddball sex comedy." Very oddball, not much comedy. Very sick.

The great master of comic genre Joao Cesar Monteiro has made some of the most outlandish films in the history of Portuguese cinema. Very few people know that films made by him do not have any parallel in World cinema. His films are bold in the sense that they carry very minimal plot weight and rely heavily on the zany moods of its characters. Those who have seen films by the "highly unusual" German director Herbert Achternbusch will easily catch a glimpse of this Portuguese iconoclast's vision. It is true that in this particular film things happen at a slow pace but they do not dampen anyone's spirits. One has to be patient in order to enjoy the richness of dialogs which are absolutely hilarious. They flow effusively from Joao Cesar Monteiro's mouth as like Woody Allen, he has also given many hilarious performances.A very mature, efficient and perfect visual balance is achieved in the final moments of the film as some unexpected events are depicted. If all this sounds interesting to you, please go for Joao Cesar Monteiro box set published by Paulo Branco's which is available in France.

If you like to see a strange old man messing around with innocent young girls - which are even working for him - you're right! And you'll also see a lot of strange "games" with food - befor and after having been eaten...I know i didn't understand the deeper sense of this movie, but it just was to strange for me...Don't!

To be honest I cannot elaborate on this one, as I only saw the first half hour of the movie. Comédia de Deus for me is the only movie that I ever ran away from, after some short debating with my two companions, leaving the other two spectators the cinema to themselves (I still sometimes wonder whether they managed to sit it out). The first half hour (fair is fair) is the most bewildering piece of fiction I ever saw, combining the utter idiocy of, say, the Police Academy series with the astounding 'la-di-dah, oh, what great art I'm making'-attitude of films as "Ulysses's Gaze".Worst first half hour ever, but hey, maybe the rest was good. Go check yourself, though, because I've seen the last of this one.