Napomuceno's Will

Napomuceno's Will (Portuguese: O testamento do Senhor Napumoceno, "The Will of Mr. Napumoceno") is a 1997 Cape Verdean drama film directed by Francisco Manso, based on the 1989 novel The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida.[2][3][4]

Napomuceno's Will
Film poster
PortugueseO testamento do Senhor Napumoceno
Directed byFrancisco Manso
Written byMário Prata
Based onThe Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo
by Germano Almeida
Produced byAntónio Gonçalo
Francisco Manso
Starring
CinematographyEdgar Moura
Edited byLuís Sobral
Music byTito Paris
Toy Vieira
Production
company
    • ADR Productions
    • Cineluz - Produções Cinematográficas Lda.
    • Cobra Films
    • Instituto Caboverdiano de Cinema (ICC)
    • Instituto Português da Arte Cinematográfica e Audiovisual (IPACA)
    • J.L. Vasconcelos Lda.
    • Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP)
Distributed by
Release dates
August 1997 (Festival de Gramado)
25 September 1997 (Cape Verde)
Running time
117 minutes
Country
LanguagePortuguese

Synopsis
Map of Cape Verde's Barlavento Islands; Sr. Napumuceno moves from São Nicolau (middle) to São Vicente (in the west).

Napumoceno da Silva Araújo, a wealthy Cape Verde merchant, dies and unexpectedly disinherits his nephew, leaving his fortune to an illegitimate daughter. He also leaves her a collection of cassette tapes in which he tells her the story of his life, how he came from poverty to success and status, and the many women he loved along the way.[5][6]

Cast

Release

Napomuceno's Will premiered at the Festival de Gramado, Brazil in August 1997.[1]

It received positive reviews, Variety praising Chico Díaz in particular.[7] For the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle wrote that "[Xavier's] Araujo is essentially a clown, but one so dynamic and single-minded that it becomes understandable why he is attractive to women and successful in business. With a virtuosity reminiscent of Roberto Benigni, he uses his voice as a dazzling comedic instrument, rising to ear-splitting heights in moments of pomposity and exasperation. At the same time, Xavier gives us moments of heartbreaking nakedness, when Araujo's pretense drops away, and we see right into his pain."[8]

In Contemporary Lusophone African Film, Paulo de Medeiros complained that the film ignored mentions of colonialism in the original book, pointing out that with a Portuguese director and audience, the film embraces a "Lusotropicalist" perspective or aims to forget about colonialism.[9]

References
  1. "O Testamento do Sr. Napumoceno (Napumoceno's will). (Portugal | Brazil | Cape Verde | France | Belgium, 1997) | UC Berkeley Library". www.lib.berkeley.edu.
  2. "Napumoceno's Will" – via mubi.com.
  3. O testamento do Sr. Napumoceno: (Napumoceno's will). November 14, 1998. OCLC 41177479 – via Open WorldCat.
  4. Davis, Glyn; Dickinson, Kay; Patti, Lisa; Villarejo, Amy (February 20, 2015). Film Studies: A Global Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 9781317623380 – via Google Books.
  5. McCluskey, Audrey Thomas (November 14, 2007). Frame by Frame III: A Filmography of the African Diasporan Image, 1994-2004. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253348296 – via Google Books.
  6. "Films, O: Black Film Center/Archive". bfca.sitehost.iu.edu.
  7. "Testamento". July 20, 1998.
  8. LaSalle, Mick; Guthmann, Edward (April 21, 2000). "FILM CLIPS / Also opening this week". SFGATE.
  9. Medeiros, Paulo de; Apa, Livia (December 13, 2020). Contemporary Lusophone African Film: Transnational Communities and Alternative Modernities. Routledge. ISBN 9780429648915 – via Google Books.
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