Not one person. You've heard of "bloodless" coups. Well, this uprising came miraculously close. A few people were killed, but not by the military. Members of the secret police, the PIDE, fired into the unarmed crowd. But that shouldn't count-- because the PIDE were always killing people.
Watch the movie: Captains of April. Portuguese w/ English subtitles, available thru Netflix. The love story is weak, as love stories so often are when wedged into epic tales of war, but the rest of the film shines. Produced by Maria Medeiros, who you may remember from PULP FICTION, but more important, she sort of looks like me.
Medeiros totally captures the charisma of the revolutionaries, the mood of the times, and how seriously funny the whole thing turned out to be.
FUNNY? First, tanks stopped at traffic lights. I kid you not. I asked my dad about this. "What the hell kind of revolutionaries stop at traffic lights?" I said.
Jeronimo Vazao was in the military, and served in the same barracks (Caldas da Rainha) as did the Hero of the Film (although at different times). My father's Army class was the last to serve on the mainland; all subsequent enlistments were sent to Africa to fight in the colonial war.
Without looking up from his newspaper, my father answers, "Certainly, the officers stopped at traffic lights. As it should be. Order and discipline." Finally, he puts the paper down. "It was a matter of public safety. You have to respect the laws."
MORE FUNNY: Shortly before some Captains of April were scheduled to take over the government radio station, they locked themselves out of their car. At the time, they were parked, unbeknownst to them, in the most notorious homosexual meeting place in Lisbon. And the young men have to change into their uniforms inside the car. Well.... funniness ensues.
For my info re: My family & the Portuguese Revolution, SEE: Flying to America: Revolution & its Discontents
No comments:
Post a Comment