In this symbolic and philosophically weighty film, all of the inhabitants of a Portuguese mental asylum suffer from religious delusions of one kind or another -- even the cynic who denies the value of any religions at all. One couple re-enacts the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and then the woman who played at being Eve plays at being St. Teresa de Avila. Another man thinks he's a character from a Dostoyevsky novel, and yet another claims to have in his possession a fifth gospel from the Bible. Everyone has a point of view and is not shy about stating it, defending it in debate with the others with great sincerity, though (the reviewers claimed) with very little elegance or wit. (Clarke Fountain)
        What would've happened if Lazarus met Nietzsche? The man who raised from the deads and the man who killed God are but two faces of the same soul. Oliveira let the books talk about human greatness and misery.
        If you are not interested in the theological debate, don't waste your time here. But if you're not interested, you're already wasting your time. (Dionysis)