Image of movie Fogo-Fátuo
Image of movie Fogo-Fátuo
Image of movie Fogo-Fátuo
Features

Fogo-Fátuo

Will-o'-the-Wisp
Irrlicht
João Pedro Rodrigues
France, Portugal 2022
67 min
V'22

In a fantasy version of Portugal cannily close to the real thing, the boyish, high-cheekboned Prince Alfredo is the only member of the royal family to care about the wildfires ravaging the nation’s forests, even if his interest in their tumescent trees is hardly innocent. With Greta Thunberg’s words on his lips, he decides to volunteer at the local fire brigade, where he meets a whole pin-up calendar’s worth of buff firefighters, including Black sociology student Afonso, with their first lingering handshake the first sign of the libidinous explosions to come. But if royal responsibility is everything, what chance do a prince and a fireman have to grow old together?
João Pedro Rodrigues’s self-declared musical fantasy is also his first foray into comedy, which proves to be the perfect complement to his trademark floating eroticism, with snappy one-liners, sight gags and carefully crafted punchlines anchoring the narrative and allowing it to wander in equal measure. And like in all the best comedies, the myriad jokes in WILL-O’-THE-WISP land because they actually mean something. Who knew hilarity would turn out to be the best way to upend colonialist legacies and racist stereotypes? (James Lattimer)

João Pedro Rodrigues: O PASTOR (1988, K), PARABÉNS! (1997, K), O FANTASMA (2000), ODETE (2005), TO DIE LIKE A MAN (2009), A ÚLTIMA VEZ QUE VI MACAU (2012), DER ORNITHOLOGE (2016), 30/30 VISION: 3 DECADES OF STRAND RELEASING (2019, Episode), UM QUARTO NA CIDADE (2021, K), ONDE FICA ESTA RUA? (2022)

Credits
  • Mauro Costa
  • André Cabral
  • Joel Branco
  • Oceano Cruz
  • Margarida Vila-Nova
  • João Pedro Rodrigues
  • Rui Poças
  • Mariana Gaivão
  • Patrícia Dória
A Terratreme Filmes, House on Fire, Filmes Fantasma

Films Boutique

Salzgeber & Co. Medien GmbH
DCP
Farbe
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