At the beginning Grand tourThere is hope for Miguel Gomez to open a narrative path through a five-week trip to Southeast Asia, at the beginning of 2020, with a 16mm camera slung over his shoulder. In search of found footage that can illustrate the characters' journey in a film still in draft form.
But the pandemic took everything and closed everything, forcing the project to stop for two years and the director must improve his lines remotely, with the help of a technical team led from Portugal to complete the shots planned during this aborted trip.
This sixth feature film was thus conceived in part by the Portuguese director, who since his beginnings has continued to move away from well-defined paths and established creative processes, preferring to weave and reinvent his art in the present time, adapting to unexpected circumstances.
The black-and-white film tells the story of Edward (Gonsalo Waddington), a British civil servant based in Rangoon, Burma in 1917, who decides to run away on his wedding day to Molly (Crista Alviati) and take a vacation. A “grand tour” of Asia. Determined to get married, Molly searches for Edward and follows his trail across the continent.
Finally, in the studios, far away from the light flooding the bamboo forests, the jungles of Thailand, or the snow temples of Japan that were recreated without digital trickery to meet the needs of the film, Miguel Gomez discovered the alchemy of magic. Grand tour.
A move that reminds us that he was already a free filmmaker established in the current moment completed by Miguel Gomez One Thousand and One Nightsan unusual mural lasting more than six hours that was displayed in Cannes in 2015.
By building a bridge between the time of the story, recreated in the studios, and the time of the images taken during his journey, the Portuguese director makes it clear that he wanted to establish a unique cinematic time. However, it is a romantic escape true to its unconventional style.
