Heavy medieval silence drapes over a Portuguese village built in the 15th century on the banks of the River Duoro. Sun rays bounce off rivers that seem to run through every city in the country. Decorative ceramic tiles line the walls of otherwise simple buildings.
This is the Portugal of Jose Saramago. Despite his love of this country, Saramago, the Nobel-Prize-winning writer, had a complicated relationship with his homeland. Portugal is a devoutly religious country, and Saramago was infamous for being a Communist and an atheist. Portugal was opposed to Saramago's work, so much so that when he published The Gospel According to Jesus Christ in 1991 and was nominated for the European Literary Prize, the Portuguese government banned the book from the competition. The writer moved to Spain.
But, in his novels, Saramago captured the people and places of Portugal and, with the recent release of the documentary "Jose and Pilar," the Portuguese people's perception of the writer has changed. An intimate look into the life of an endearing and compassionate man, Jose and Pilar ran in theaters for five months in Portugal and was chosen to represent Portugal in the 2012 Academy Awards' Best Foreign Film and Best Song categories.
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