Mal viver

Forty kilometres away from Porto, towards the sea and the river Càvado in Esposede, stands a modernist hotel designed by Júlio Oliveira in the early 1960s. Ensconced within this space, João Canijo and his actresses collaborated to construct and depict the story of five women: mothers, daughters and granddaughters. The youngest, Salomé, has just returned to the hotel owned by her grandmother, which is staffed by the latter’s daughters in turn. Salomé’s father died of a long illness just a few days ago and she has been summoned to grieve in the company of the women in her life, including her mother Piedade. But inside these rooms, which turn orange-red as night falls, there seem to be ancient forces that prevent mothers from loving their daughters, or even acting motherly at all. Each woman is tortured, and each woman inflicts her torment on others. As if influenced by the aura of this space—forged from the bitterness of the upper classes, now decadent and old-fashioned—each relationship swiftly deteriorates. By concentrating on the faces of these actresses and their unique gestures, on the way despair accumulates as they enter into character, MAL VIVER crafts a portrait of total anxiety and decay. (Lucía Salas)

In the presence of João Canijo.

João Canijo: TRÊS MENOS EU (1985), FILHA DA MÃE (1989), SAPATOS PRETO (1997), GANHAR A VIDA (2000), NOITE ESCURA (2003), MAL NASCIDA (2007), FANTASIA LUSITANA (2010), TRABALHO DE ACTRIZ, TRABALHO DE ACTOR (2011), SANGUE DO MEU SANGUE (2011), RAÚL BRANDÃO ERA UM GRANDE ESCRITOR... (2012, K), É O AMOR (2013), PORTUGAL, UM DIA DE CADA VEZ (2015), DIÁRO DAS BEIRAS (2017), VIVER MAL (2023)