Os verdes anos

Júlio, a young man from the provinces, goes to Lisbon to work as an apprentice shoemaker in a basement in a new part of the city. He lodges with his uncle Raul, who lives in a slum in the suburbs. Ilda, a «modern girl» who works as a housemaid in a luxury apartment, is one of his most regular customers. They soon embark on an idyllic relationship. But Júlio cannot adapt to living in the city, which he feels is a strange and hostile environment. When Ilda rejects his proposal of marriage he is hurt and angry. He goes to her home, taking his cobbler’s knife with him… OS VERDES ANOS, Paulo Rocha’s first feature film, while possessing all the characteristics of the New Wave as well as those of Neo-realism, yet also departs from them. Through its modernity, content and direction, this film opened new horizons for Portuguese cinema.