“The Hours” brings literature and cinema together at Great Cinema on Campus

Last Friday, 25 September, Pólo 3 of ULusófona – Porto University Centre once again hosted an open-air cinema evening as part of Great Cinema on Campus. The third screening in the series brought “The Hours” (2002), directed by Stephen Daldry, to the cloister, introduced by Portuguese singer, songwriter and artist Ana Deus.

The film follows three women in different periods, connected by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”. Their stories intersect through loneliness, choices, love and the search for meaning in their own existence, in a portrait also shaped by the role attributed to women in different social contexts.

For Ana Deus, the film stands out from the outset for the way image and music work together to distinguish the three periods through colour and different visual atmospheres. This is a dimension particularly close to her own artistic journey, marked by the intersection of music, words and experimentation.

According to Ana Deus, the relationship between the different forms of expression makes the film particularly interesting as an artistic work.

Among the aspects that particularly resonated with her is silence. More than what is said, it is gestures, looks and expressions that allow the audience to follow the characters’ inner worlds. A silent language that Ana Deus recognises as particularly powerful and which finds a parallel in her own relationship with words and artistic expression.

With this latest screening, Great Cinema on Campus continues to bring Lusófona University closer to the city.

Following “Persepolis”, “24 Hour Party People” and “The Hours”, the open-air cinema series, under the theme “rebellion in creation”, concluded on 2 October with its final screening, dedicated to the film "Mo Better Blues".

Credits:

Text and Coverage
Susana A. Oliveira

Image Editing
Gabriel Motta

Video Editing
Luana Gomes