Alain Tanner (In the White City) directed this Swiss-French-Portuguese drama, based on the novel by Antonio Tabucci. Amid August heat in Lisbon, French author Paul (Francis Frappat) meets various people from his past who surface from his memories into reality. Poet Pierre (Andre Marcon) takes him to a restaurant, and Paul's father (Alexandre Zloto) wants to know how he died. When Paul visits a private club, the headwaiter (Jose Manuel Mendes) bets a bottle of 1952 wine on a billiard shot. Both novel and film serve as tributes to Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, who appears here as a character. Shown in the Directors Fortnight section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide