The Jew

It's difficult to imagine exactly what Portuguese director Tom Azulay had in mind when he plunged into the production of this lushly photographed historical drama. As a biography of 18th-century Portuguese playwright Antonio Jose da Silva (Felip Pinheiro), who fell victim to the Inquisition's auto- de-fe, it's maddeningly insubstantial. As a political allegory, it's too bluntly obvious to be provocative. Da Silva's family is forced to emigrate to Lisbon after his mother is denounced by the Inquisition as a practicing Jew, and Da Silva converts to Catholicism. He becomes known for his satirical plays and puppet shows, and eventually finds himself before the d...