This Side of Resurrection (Deste lado da ressurreicao)

A Rosa Filmes release and presentation. Created by Maria Joao Sigalho. Directed by Joaquim Sapinho. Script, Monica Santana Baptista, Rui Santos, Luis Araujo, Joaquim Sapinho.With: Pedro Sousa, Joana Barata, Sofia Grillo, Pedro Carmo, Luis Castro, Joao Cardoso, Mariana Antonio.Featuring one of the most unusual recent film figures -- a surfing monk, or possibly a monkish surfer -- Joaquim Sapinho's "This Side of Resurrection" undermines its best intentions having a stilted rendering of complex family associations including the surfer, his adoring more youthful sister and alienated mother. The bland storytelling is paradoxically set from the spectacular backdrop of Portugal's Guincho beach, with Nuno Cardoso's brilliant underwater lensing supplying a effective feeling of how it is enjoy being in and underneath the waves. Surf looks glassy at fests and marketplaces as well as in local November release. Following a stint inside a nearby monastery, Rafael (Pedro Sousa) has came back to catching waves -- well-created 10-footers he handles with aplomb. His mother (vet thesp Sofia Grillo) lied to daughter Ines (Joana Barata, who offers the pic's only emotional pull) that Rafael had split in the family to hold 10 in Oz, similar to their lengthy-absent surfing champion father. Ines has b.f. problems, and Rafael is attracted to the monastery and something good-searching monk. A stupefying feeling of ennui and monotony overcomes the overlong film's potentially dynamic fusion of mental and physical space.Camera (color, DV), Leonardo Simoes editor, Santos set decorator, Patricia Ameixial costume designer, Ameixial. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Visions), Sept. 17, 2011. Running time: 118 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com