‘Change Of Life’: Paulo Rocha’s Restored Second Feature Is A Remarkable Discovery [Review]

In Paulo Rocha’s debut “The Green Years,” he told the story of a young man from rural Portugal who becomes lost in the machinery of a rapidly evolving Lisbon. Pulsing with similar energy to films of the French New Wave, the style was an effective misdirect for a tale of someone unable to carve a meaningful existence in a system that has no quarter for those that can’t adapt. The newly restored film is a rewarding discovery, and so too is Rocha’s refreshed and rereleased followup, 1966’s “Change Of Life.” For his compelling sophomore feature, the filmmaker takes his exploration of his modernizing country to the coast, this time embracing a neorealist approach to weave another layered, and tragic tale of lives upended by the currents of change.

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