''Lines of Wellington'' ( pt, Linhas de Wellington) is a 2012 Franco-Portuguese epic war film and television series prepared by Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and completed by his widow

Valeria Sarmiento Valeria Sarmiento (born 29 October 1948) is a film editor, director and screenwriter best known for her work in France, Portugal and her native Chile. She has worked both in film and television, directing 20 feature films, documentaries and te ...

. Its title refers to the historical

Lines of Torres Vedras The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, ...

. The film was in competition for the Golden Lion at the

69th Venice International Film Festival The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, organized by Venice Biennale, took place at Venice Lido from 29 August to 8 September 2012. The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'', and close ...

. It was also shown at the 2012

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

, the

2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...

and the 2012

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

. The film was selected as the Portuguese entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the 86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot

In the autumn of 1810, the French forces of Marshal Masséna are invading Portugal and are temporarily halted by the Anglo-Portuguese army under Viscount Wellington at the

Battle of Bussaco The Battle of Buçaco () or Bussaco, fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army. Having o ...

. As a bitter winter approaches, Wellington withdraws his troops towards the fortifications he has prepared in secret at the

. Using a scorched earth defence, he forces the inhabitants to evacuate the land in front of the Lines and destroys all supplies which could be useful to the French. The film illustrates these dramatic events by a series of vignettes which show the effects on combatants, both regular soldiers and guerrillas, and on the civilian population.

Cast

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

as General Wellington *

Soraia Chaves Soraia Chaves (born 22 June 1982 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese actress and model. She became famous with the role of Amélia in the film ''O Crime do Padre Amaro'' and the role of Maria in her next film, ''Call Girl''. She also played the role of Ra ...

as Martírio *

Vincent Pérez Vincent Perez (born 10 June 1964) is a Swiss actor, director and photographer. He played the title character, Ashe Corven, in '' The Crow: City of Angels'', and starred in ''Queen of the Damned'', playing Marius de Romanus. Some of his films in ...

as Lévêque *

Marisa Paredes María Luisa Paredes Bartolomé (born 3 April 1946), known professionally as Marisa Paredes, is a Spanish actress. Biography Paredes began acting in 1960 film, '' 091 Policia al Habla'' (''091, Police Speaking!'') She became a teen idol across ...

as Dona Filipa *

Melvil Poupaud Melvil Poupaud (born 26 January 1973) is a French actor, author and filmmaker. Career Poupaud's first appearance was, as a child, in Raúl Ruiz's 1983 film '' City of Pirates''. He met Ruiz through his mother, Chantal Poupaud, who was a well-kn ...

as Marshal Massena *

Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'', in which he played the lead villain, Steven Spielberg's ''Munich'', Wes An ...

as General Marbot *

Elsa Zylberstein Elsa Zylberstein (born Elsa Florence Zylbersztejn, 16 October 1968) is a French film, TV, and stage actress. After studying drama, Zylberstein began her film career in 1989, and has appeared in more than 60 films. She won the César Award for Be ...

as Sister Irmã Cordélia *

Christian Vadim Christian Vadim (born 18 June 1963) is a French actor. He is the son of actress Catherine Deneuve and film director Roger Vadim. Career He made his film debut in 1983, working with his father in the film '' Surprise Party'', and appeared in ...

Marshal Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...

* Ricardo Pereira *

Carloto Cotta Carloto Cotta (born 31 January 1984) is a Portuguese actor. Career Born in Paris, he grew up in Lisbon, and at the age of 15 he started his acting training at the Escola Profissional de Teatro de Cascais. He made his film debut in Miguel Gomes' ...

as Pedro de Alencar *

Nuno Lopes Nuno Miguel Pereira Lopes (born 6 May 1978) is a Portuguese actor and DJ. He's internationally known for his role in ''Saint George'', the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, and most recently for his ...

as Francisco Xavier *

Jemima West Jemima West (born 11 August 1987) is a French actress. She is bilingual, growing up for most of her life in Paris, France. She is best known for playing ''Isabelle Lightwood'' in the film adaptation of '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'' ...

as Maureen *

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...

as Severina *

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

as Cosima Pia *

Malik Zidi Malik Zidi (born 14 February 1975)ifrance.com
is a French film, television and theatre actor. He is a

as Octave Ségur * Chiara Mastroianni as Hussardo *

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as Leópold Scheitzer * Victoria Guerra as Clarissa *

Maria João Bastos Maria João David da Silva Bastos (born 18 June 1975) is a Portuguese actress. She has participated in several Brazilian productions, becoming a known actress in Brazil. Biography Maria João was born in Benavente, Santarém District. She holds ...

as Maria de Jesus *

Marcello Urgeghe Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos. Etymology The name originally mean ...

as Jonathan Foster * José Afonso Pimentel as Zé Maria

Reception

Jaime N. Christley of '' Slant Magazine'' wrote "Dull but never dreary, ''Lines of Wellington'' was one of the projects in Raúl Ruiz's pipeline before he passed away last year". According to Xan Brooks of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' "This epic historical pageant 'conceived by' the late director Raoul Ruiz won't win the top prize in Venice, but it's full of life"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lines of Wellington 2012 war drama films Portuguese drama films 2010s Portuguese-language films Films directed by Valeria Sarmiento Films produced by Paulo Branco Films set in 1810 Napoleonic Wars films French war drama films War epic films War films based on actual events Cultural depictions of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Lines of Torres Vedras 2012 drama films 2010s French films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links