Lisbon, 25 April 1 9 7 4. Portugal is waging colonial wars in Angola, Guinea and Mozambique, under the dictatorship of Marcelo Caetano called Estado Novo. Fed up with this state, Captain Salgueiro Maia wakes up soldiers from his barrack in Santarem in the middle of the night, and tells them he will start a coup d'etat to bring back democracy. Disillusioned by wars, most soldiers, including Major Gervasio, follow him in a military column to Lisbon. They take over the building of the Minister of Defense and encounter almost no opposition. The people on the streets support them. Dictator Caetano and his staff flee to a military barrack and shoot at people, but are surrounded and eventually agree in negotiations led by Maia to evacuate. Caetano flees to Brazil. Portugal is transformed into a democracy. Antonia's lover Emilio is released from prison, but this means the end of her marriage with Manuel, a military officer.
The first feature length narrative film about the Carnation Revolution, "April Captains" is one of the happiest, most uplifting and optimistic movies you will ever see. It is comprised out of pure idealism, so much so that it soothes the soul, and it is even more incredible that all this really happened. It is the feature length debut film of actress Maria de Medeiros ("Pulp Fiction", "Henry & June") who hereby gives a detailed chronicle of Portuguese history: it has such a natural story flow that once you start watching, you get addicted and have to see it to the end, whereas the whole storyline is filled with engaging little details that are easy to identify with. The setting is already established in one sequence in a pub, where military officer Manuel returns from fighting in Africa, and stretches out his hand to his acquaintance Virgilio, a leftist old man, but the latter does not accept it: "Don't give me your hand because I won't shake it!" Later on, Virgilio insults him and other Portuguese soldiers, calling them "professional killers" who "enjoy killing Blacks". The dictatorship is shown in other scenes are beneath contempt: an interrogator questions student activist Emilio, reading out from his report: "RMLP - TML. This ideology isn't for the illiterate."
Nonetheless, the revolution is never presented as black-and-white: there are several unusual, but accurate situations that are highly comical. For instance, four soldiers in civilian clothing actually locked themselves out of their own car during the night—but were saved by a police officer who helped them break into said car using a knife. The four soldiers later start taking their civilian clothes off to dress into military uniforms, but two gay men knock on their window, mistaking them for something else. Finally, when the four soldiers arrive to the radio station, they knock, a man opens the door, and a soldier introduces himself: "Coup d'etat, may we enter?" The main highlight is the protagonist, Captain Salgueiro Maia (excellent Stefano Accorsi) whose indestructible enthusiasm is so contagious that it doesn't only charm all the 200 soldiers to follow him, but also all the viewers, too. This is a rare example where a youth's energy is so positive that it galvanizes and transmits this to the energy of the entire film. One of the most ingenious tricks he play is the one where he places news of a coup d'etat, so the Minister of Defense lets a military unit inside, ostensibly for protection from said coup d'etat threat—only to find out the military unit they received is actually Maia's, who know has them under his control. Most of the best best movies of certain countries are often depressive and negative ones—but "April Captains" is a rare movie where one of the best Portuguese movies is also one of the most positive ones.
Grade:+++
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