Not satisfied with just taking excursions through Europe's ancient landmarks (A Talking Picture, 28th HKIFF), this time the prolific, 96-years-old Portuguese director plunges us into a medieval Hamletian intrigue among Lisbon's most famous monasteries. A young monarch is obsessed with leaving his legacy by creating a mythical, utopian Fifth Empire, while his people are suffering from poverty. Is he insane? Or is he guided by the Holy Cobbler? Based upon the real-life mysteries behind King Sebastião, who perished in 1578 during a crusade in Morocco, this controversial parable redresses the Crusades as an inevitable clash between the West and Islam.
        每年不來向迪奧里菲拉朝朝聖，就不是過電影節似的。幸好這個電影老將勇猛如故。前作《大浪淘沙》（28屆）娓娓談今日的恐怖主義襲地球，此作反其道而行，以古諷今重構十六世紀歷史神話裏好戰君王的心路歷程。神話在葡萄牙家傳戶曉：塞巴斯蒂安大帝為了圓其雄圖大國夢，不顧國民水深火熱，也不理朝中大臣的勸阻、弄臣的嘲笑，喪心病狂遠征回教徒。迪奧利菲拉招來大帝的心魔-擁有催眠異能的神秘角色，長期失眠的大帝終於睡了一覺，之後的一切，應驗了夢中預言。奇怪是回教神話裏，也存在同一人物，他騎?白馬來驅走惡魔，維護世界和平！
        Source: 29th HKIFF 2005