‘The Portuguese Nun” is an unconventional movie that requires an unconventional mindset to appreciate.
The story is simple: Julie, a young French actress, goes to Lisbon to star in a movie called “The Portuguese Nun,” in which she has the title role.
She spends time exploring the Portuguese city, and has several encounters — with her director, a suicidal gentleman, an orphaned 6-year-old boy and his foster mom, and a real-life nun she often sees praying in the chapel where the movie is being shot.
Julie also has a one-night stand with her male co-star (Adrien Michaux), after telling him: “If sleeping with me would be good for you, I feel I’d be doing a good deed.”
But it’s not what happens that matters most. The real star is director Eugene Green’s quirky style: enigmatic dialogue, lengthy tracks and pans, actors speaking directly to the camera, shots of feet set against the cobblestone streets and picture-postcard-perfect vistas of the city.
As the fragile Julie, actress Leonor Baldaque is a wonder. “The Portuguese Nun” would be rewarding if it showed nothing more than her emotionless face staring down the camera.