Film: Manoel de Oliveira: From a late-starter, a 'century' of cinema Mar 7, 2008
The peculiar shape of Oliveira's filmography he made only three features and a smattering of shorts in the first 40 years of his career is partly a function of Portuguese history. Born in Oporto to a well-off family, he competed in the pole vault, raced cars professionally and even performed as a trapeze artist in his youth. (International Herald Tribune)
* Ordinary Portuguese confront a colonial past Dec 12, 2007
Luis Quintais, an anthropologist at Portugal's Coimbra University who has written a book about the African conflicts, says they have "been immersed in a huge silence," while Portuguese history is rendered as the chronicle of a small, gentle country bullied by bigger European powers. "We think of our colonization as having been soft, or mild, compared to other countries. But it wasn't, it was just the same," Quintais said. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Marina Hyde: History owes us Jul 1, 2006
"If you know a little bit of Portuguese history," he announced at a press conference, flanked by his manager Big Phil Scolari, "you can see that Portugal aren't afraid of anybody." ... A titanic battle awaits us, and if Portuguese history and the England manager's fortunes are inexorably linked (and I don't think any of us for a second believes they really are), let's hope this afternoon takes us all the way back to the Age of Discovery when that nation acquired its empire. (Guardian Unlimited -- Football)
Scolari stokes siege mentality Jun 29, 2006
"If you know a little bit of Portuguese history you can see that Portugal aren't afraid of anybody," Pauleta said. "The only thing we want is to be respected because we respect anybody and we don't accept the fake and false news about Portugal and the Portuguese team." Pauleta had earlier talked of wanting to reach the semi-finals, which would equal Portugal's best World Cup performance of 1966, "to dignify our country". (Guardian Unlimited)
