The social and political history of Portugal is fascinating, but also not widely known outside of those who come from the country or make up part of its extensive global diaspora. However, it is extremely difficult to find a work produced in the 20th century (or even to the present day) that doesn’t address the conditions that many experienced while living under the brutal regime of Salazar and his cruel dictatorship that caused an abundance of lives to be lost. One of the works that most directly addresses not necessarily the political side of these events but rather the long-lasting social conditions is Change of Life (Portuguese: Mudar de Vida), in which director Paulo Rocha makes his second feature film. The story is centred around a young man who has spent years fighting for Portugal in Angola, as part of the colonial conflicts that swept across the developing world around this time, and who returns to his home in a small fishing village. However, he realizes that life has changed considerably – the people have grown more bitter and cynical, and even those who used to relish in the simple beauty of life have developed a sense of disdain for the world that surrounds them. A poetic but sometimes quite challenging social realist drama that finds the director navigating some quite harsh and unsettling imagery and narrative concepts, Change of Life is a poignant and impactful film that provides fascinating insights into life in a small town. Intimate but still sprawling in how it offers a unique glimpse into the lives of those who have opted for a more simple existence, Rocha’s film is a major achievement in Portuguese cinema that is as remarkably complex today as it was when it was first released, showing us a side of society that we don’t often find ourselves having access to and telling a beautiful but haunting story of the people who make up a population and their individual existential quandaries that they each have to endure.

There are many qualities that define Rocha as a filmmaker, and many of them are present in this film, despite it being quite an early offering from the director. Throughout Change of Life, he is offering valuable insights into the lives of the subjects, which he does through the simple act of prioritizing authenticity above everything else. Filmed entirely on location in the pastoral fishing village of Praia do Furadouro, a small but idyllic corner of the country which the director’s camera captures beautifully, the film finds very little need for any kind of artifice – everything that was integral to telling this story was found at the site, with only minimal effort put into creating this village in which the story unfolds. Another element that proves the incredible authenticity of the film is the use of non-professional actors in the majority of the roles. There were a couple of actors recruited for the film that had acted already, but for the most part the film chose to keep a more subtle approach by giving the majority of the roles to natives of the village and its surroundings. Considering how this is more a visual poem rather than a fully formed narrative-driven film, it makes sense that authentic characterization would take the majority of the focus and that everything else would essentially be secondary. Rocha works very well with his actors, drawing out exceptional performances from all of them and giving them the chance to bring their own lived-in experiences to the film, which is as much about capturing a very specific kind of image of Portugal at a specific time and place as it is about telling this particular story. The interweaving scenes between different characters only strengthen the film and make it more engaging, flourishing into a far more intriguing depiction of the past than we would expect based on a cursory glance.

There is a lot of subtlety that drives this film and allows it to develop into such a poignant character study. In particular, the work being done by Geraldo Del Rey as the protagonist is very impressive – he plays this soldier returning home, which is always a challenging process for anyone who has been at war, and who discovers that not only does he not recognize his hometown, but the people have changed. However, he’s never sure whether it is a result of his own shift in perception, as well as the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, or if this entire population has undergone quite a severe shift in personality and outlook. This same quality is reflected in the audience’s perception of the film and its events, and the actors put in enough effort to fully convince us of the small details that populate this film. This all speaks to the deeper message of the film, which is based on the concept of tradition and modernity – Adelino left Praia do Furadouro a few years before, to serve his country. Upon his return, everything seems to be physically the same – the buildings that litter the seafront he calls home remain quaint and unchanged (if anything, they’ve shown signs of ageing and are a remnant of the past), but yet the people within are different, and receive him very differently than they did before he left. Yet, in the surrounding areas, progress is made – science and technology are gradually encroaching on the lives of these people, who are coming to terms with the slow but gradual changes that are occurring around them. The protagonist yearned for a return to the simple life but now realizes that this was only a fantasy and his dream of coming back to his small village and resuming the pastoral life he had before proved to be entirely ineffectual. He has changed, and so has society, which refused to stagnate as it anticipated his return, which is something that he finds almost impossible to reconcile when confronted with a very stark reality that eventually causes his entire life to unravel.

As made clear already, Change of Life is not a film that is necessarily driven by plot and is far more atmospheric than it is discursive, which is perhaps what makes it such a hauntingly beautiful and oddly persuasive piece of storytelling. The plot is clear, and it follows a very obvious pattern, but it is mostly only there to guide us between scenes since what keeps us invested and intrigued are not these elements, but rather the ones that occur in the margins. The film is essentially a series of vignettes that give us glimpses into the residents of Praia do Furadouro as they go about their daily routine, and how the sudden return of one of their residents from war throws everything in disarray, particularly because he emerged expecting the same conditions that were present when he left. Rocha follows the protagonist, his family and the rest of the village as they navigate these challenges, which are presented in brief, achingly beautiful segments that offer valuable insights into not only what life is like in such a small village, but also the obstacles that stand in the way of someone simply trying to return home. Even if we only view it as a document of life before the April Revolution (which was only about a decade away at this point), Change of Life is still very effective since what it is offering is far more insightful than what we would initially expect. Its simplicity is an enormous merit since it shows the director is willing to put in the work to craft something that doesn’t provide answers to absolutely every question, but rather asks us to view the lives of these people as they negotiate between honouring their traditional lives, which is essentially all they have ever known, or embracing the future and the sometimes intimidating opportunities it offers when it arrives. It’s a beautifully poetic film that is extremely unfurnished and perhaps even bleak at some points, but it has a sense of sincerity that is very important to its identity, which is precisely what Rocha opts to explore throughout the film.

It is truly inexplicable that Portuguese cinema has been so severely underestimated as far as global reach is concerned, since beyond a couple of the most obvious names, it has rarely been factored into conversations around major filmmaking nations, despite the incredible work being done by many very notable filmmakers. Change of Life is a relatively early piece of filmmaking hailing from the country, particularly because it was made at a time when it was difficult to engage in artistic expression freely and without the obstacles presented by living under a dictatorship. It’s far more descriptive than it is filled with plot – the scenes move at a slow but steady pace, sometimes lingering on a particular concept more than we’d expect, but in the process offering unfettered insights into the lives of these characters and everything that they represent. Beautiful, poetic and striking from its very first frame, Change of Life proves to be one of the great works of early Portuguese cinema – Rocha was open about how much of this film was inspired by the work of Manoel de Oliveira, who lingers heavily as an influence, but its also his own distinctive, unique touches that make this film such a masterful, well-constructed piece of cinema. Heartfelt in some parts, and austere in others, the story oscillates between several different ideas and presents something truly extraordinary, showing a side of a culture that we rarely glimpse, and providing unique insights into something far more simple but not any less impressive in terms of scope or intention, both of which make up the fundamental identity of this film.