Comboio de Sal e Açúcar

I read the screenplay of this motion picture for Ibermedia long ago, and it was very good. It took me quite a while to find a good copy (6GB, which I did not ask for!) and had the same impression, that it is a very well written movie.

While the plot revolves around a dangerous trip through a territory under guerrilla control, with soldiers protecting the travellers and fighting the enemy, tension is sparse, as the story simultaneously covers different aspects: the romance of a nurse and a sergeant, the military's sexual abuse of the travelling women, the mysterious commander who relies on his religious belief to take decisions (not explicitly, but the ikure --an instrument that Santería priests use during divination sessions and other ceremonies-- that the commander has all the time and frequently moves, makes it evident), t, the spies or traitors that can be aboard the train... and then the brief war scenes. The subplots and details contribute to make a fine canvas of civil war in Mozambique, during the 1980s.

However, from the "mise-en-screen" point of view, as I watched the resulting movie from the script I read, I felt that somehow it lacked a bit of kinetic brio. Nevertheless, the general acting is good, the running time is precise, and the cinematography by Frédéric Serve is impressive, so all help to make watching the movie a fine experience.