In the King's Name

Aqui d’El Rei

Portugal, Spain, France, 1992

Historic, 180’
Original version in Portuguese

English subtitles only

The last decades of the 19th century saw a growing dissatisfaction with the parliamentary monarchy in Portugal, considered wasteful and at the service of foreign powers. The ultimatum made by Britain, demanding the partition of Portuguese southern Africa, was one of the low points of the monarchy. Public opinion saw the king's moves as capitulation to the British requests. 

At the same time, a special force of the Portuguese army stationed in Mozambique, Portugal's largest colony in East Africa, finally captures Gungunhana, a famous local leader who had rebelled against Portuguese rule. A young lieutenant, Nuno Lorena (Arnaud Giovanetti), is given the task of bringing the prisoner to Lisbon, along with his many wives. He was received in the capital as a war hero.

Lorena’s temperament  attracted Mariana (Ludmila Mikaël), wife of the powerful War Minister. In the middle of political passions, "In the King's Name" tells the story of the last love of a woman and the first of a man, with the decadence of the monarchy in the background.