The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Berlin Film Festival 2017

Colo

Berlin Film Festival 2017: Colo | Review
17 February 2017
Oliver Johnston
Avatar
Oliver Johnston
17 February 2017

Movie and show review

Oliver Johnston

Colo

★★★★★

Links

Facebook

Special event

Berlin Film Festival 2017

9th to 17th February 2017

The harsh economic crisis facing Portugal is laid bare in Colo, the new film from director Teresa Villaverde. This frustratingly flat affair reflects the effects of the hardship through the story of a family living on the outskirts of Lisbon. Much of the action is relegated to the apartment that the family share, and when the capital itself is seen, it’s curiously and uncharacteristically bleak. Such bleakness is hardly a surprise given the subject matter, and yet this is unrelenting to the point of tedium.

The apartment that features so heavily is home to Marta (Alice Albergaria Borges), who lives with her mother (Beatriz Batarda) and father (João Pedro Vaz). It’s difficult for them to command much respect from their daughter, given that their lives have been so adversely affected by their country’s fortunes, meaning that their positions of power in the family unit have been diminished. The father even attempts to rob an old friend in an ill-advised fit of desperation. The cast shuffle along as best they can, and the feature’s main charm can be found in the relationship between Marta and her friend Júlia (Clara Jost). They share a warm compatibility that would enliven the movie if it was deployed more often.

The film painstakingly attempts to assert its worthiness, but this is problematic when it’s lacking in almost any kind of spirit. It can be difficult to hit the right notes when attempting gritty social realism, and while there is an almost imperceptible sense of hopefulness, it’s not enough to rescue this static piece of filmmaking that clearly yearns to be more than the sum of its parts. Colo is a noble attempt to demonstrate the adversity that is normality for many Portuguese families, but while this broad theme is certainly relatable, Colo itself unfortunately is not.

★★★★★

Oliver Johnston

Colo does not have a UK release date yet.

Read our interview with the director, Teresa Villaverde, here.

For further information about the 67th Berlin Film Festival visit here.

Read more reviews from the festival here.

Watch the trailer for Colo here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Related Itemsberlin film festivalberlinalereview

More in Berlinale

Eeb Allay Ooo! interview with Prateek Vats

Oliver Johnston
Read More

My Little Sister: An interview with Nina Hoss, Marthe Keller and the directors

Joseph Owen
Read More

“We’re able to have fun without being locked into our mobile phones”: An interview with Delete History directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern

Oliver Johnston
Read More

Irradiated (Irradiés)

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

There Is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Berlin Film Festival 2020: Awards predictions and highlights from the festival

The editorial unit
Read More

There Is No Evil press conference: Backing Mohammad Rasoulof and the subjectivity of cinema

Oliver Johnston
Read More

Police (Night Shift) press conference with Anne Fontaine, Virginie Efira and Omar Sy

Oliver Johnston
Read More

Riz Ahmed and Bassam Tariq on Mogul Mowgli and the challenge of representing your own culture

Oliver Johnston
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Oliver Johnston

Colo

★★★★★

Links

Facebook

Special event

Berlin Film Festival 2017

9th to 17th February 2017

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher
    Theatre
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Capote Tapes
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Crobar: Music When the Lights Go Out
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Schemers
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Berlin Film Festival 2017: Return to Montauk (Rückkehr nach Montauk) | Review
N&S Gaia autumn/winter 2017 collection catwalk show | LFW