Using the structure of Scherezade's tales, if not the content, Miguel Gomes has reflected the dire economic realities of Portugal in 2013 through a fabulist's lens. Volume 1 (there are two additional volumes screening at TIFF this year) includes some odd juxtapositions (the collapse of a shipbuilder combined with a tale of a battle against a nasty species of invasive wasp), tales of the impact of austerity campaigns on the working class and some striking images, notably a beached whale on the wind-swept Portuguese coast.
It didn't feel that it completely came together (part 1 felt about a half-hour too long), although I would be interested in seeing the other two films eventually.
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