Seeking out the

5000 greatest films

in a century of cinema

Linhas de Wellington


Directed by Valeria Sarmiento
Produced by Paulo Branco
Written by Carlos Saboga
With: Nuno Lopes, Soraia Chaves, Marisa Paredes, John Malkovich, Carloto Cotta, Victória Guerra, Jemima West, José Afonso Pimentel, Melvil Poupaud, Isabelle Huppert, and Catherine Deneuve
Cinematography: André Szankowski
Editing: Valeria Sarmiento and Luca Alverdi
Music: Jorge Arriagada
Runtime: 151 min
Release Date: 04 October 2012
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Color: Color

Lines of Wellington is the final film prepared by Chilean filmmaker Raoul Ruiz and directed by his widow and former editor Valeria Sarmiento. It is a modest epic set during the Battle of Bussaco, when Napoleon’s army invaded Portugal and the British and Portuguese combined forces to fight the French. The film is a rich and intimate portative of war with a full range of characters from different classes, cultures and backgrounds, but its episodic nature and ensemble cast make it feel more like a condensed TV mini series than an grand feature film epic.