Manoel de Oliveira's I'm Going Home was something of a U.S. breakthrough for the Portuguese director after decades of critical success on the film-fest circuit. Starring a magnificent Michel Piccoli as Gilbert Valence, an aging actor who loses his wife, daughter, and son-in-law in an accident, the movie resists the clichés of the loss-and-bereavement genre. Like its protagonist, I'm Going Home coasts along at a serene pace, seemingly unruffled by tragedy. Oliveira's steady gaze, emanating the sad wisdom and stately patience of old age (he was a spry 93 at the time of the movie's release), unobtrusively captures Gilbert's effortless resumption of daily routine in the wake of his loss. Neatly structured around three of Gilbert's performances -- stage productions of Ionesco's Exit the King and Shakespeare's The Tempest, and a filming of Joyce's Ulysses -- the movie initially posits that art may be the only refuge from the dread of mortality. As Gilbert's climactic breakdown suggests, however, such hopes are sadly illusory. Quietly evocative without being obdurate, I'm Going Home ends with a heartbreaking sequence, as the specter of death finally intrudes on the deceptive equanimity of Gilbert's life, and quiet acceptance curdles into despondent resignation.
