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No, or the Vain Glory of Command (‘Non’, ou a Vã Glória de Mandar), directed by acclaimed director Manoel de Oliveira, is a retelling of Portuguese national myth at its end point: the colonial wars in Africa, where thousands of Portugal’s youth met their demise, not to mention tens of thousands of African combatants and nearly a hundred thousand civilians. It is difficult to describe the feeling of finality that permeates the mind of any Portuguese patriot about their homeland — and the Portuguese are a remarkably romantic peoples in general — but I think this film does a pretty good job.

The Portuguese story of its empire is carved deeply into its memory and sense of self. The story is, as with any national myth, very succinctly told and comprises of precise moments in time deemed as pivotal with large gulfs of time passing unimportantly inbetween. Viriathus, and Romanization¹; the Reconquista²; King Sebastian³; the Empire; the rise of Salazar⁴; the Carnation Revolution⁵.

I have paid visit to every single Portuguese colony east of India, and with meu namorado português laid eyes on the old rocks that proclaim the erstwhile glory of the empire. Calçada portuguesa lining the paths around the solitary cave in which Camões wept of his home; half a church, standing on a lone hill in Malacca with plaques engraving the memory of long-dead men whose graves will not be found; tiny Timor, old ruins strewn about its verdant interior. The roots of the grand branching tree, a motif of the film, remain to fertilize the peoples cultivated in the wake of the conquerors and administrators. They exalt a dead empire, an empire for which the flower of youth left their home and shed their blood.

Was it all worth it? The Discoveries, the ultimate contribution of Portuguese civilization to the world? The answer, given resoundingly, is NON. Some pay for the sins of their predecessors, but the young Portuguese of that not-so-distant past paid for their glories instead. The myths tell us that in King Sebastian lies the final hope of the Portuguese; the reality shows us that in him is also their ruin.

You can watch this movie on Youtube here. It was hard trying to find it. You’re welcome.

1. During the period of Roman expansion, a man known to us as Viriathus — a sort of Portuguese version of Arminius, with whom I have more familiarity — led the tribes of Lusitania against the Romans, but eventually lost. In the twilight of Rome’s empire, the Germanic Suebi and Visigothic tribes would arrive in the region and settle it, converting to Catholicism in the process. ↩︎
2. The Iberian peninsula would be invaded and conquered by the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate, and referred to as the land al-Andalus; pushed into a corner, the Christians of the peninsula would spend a century pushing the Muslims back out of Iberia from the sliver of land they still held northwards in Asturias. The Reconquista, as it would come to be known, saw Portugal’s first king Afonso Henriques declare its independence, making it one of the many kingdoms on the peninsula at the time. ↩︎
3. King Sebastian is Portugal’s Arthurian myth. Lost in a battle against a Moroccan army, it is said that he will return on a misty morning in Portugal’s hour of need. ↩︎
4. Sr. Dr. António de Oliveira Salazar was the fascist dictator of Portugal up until his death in the early 70’s. ↩︎
5. The Carnation Revolution, 25 April 1974, marked the end of Portugal’s dictatorship and the return of democracy. It is the most glorified event in recent Portuguese memory, especially as compared to the colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique that led up to the Revolution. ↩︎