The Cannibals

This odd film is a major representative of an even odder film genre directtocelluloid opera It was commissioned by the Portuguese master of style director Manoel de Oliveira from composer João Paes Musically it ranges from 19thcentury romanticism to popular modernist and even postmodernist styles In the initially tame story a hostnarrator tells the story of a wedding between the two lovebirds Viscount dAveleda and the beautiful Marguerite However what happens in the bridal chamber is incredibly bizarre The events after that are even stranger and the wedding guests and family indulge in cannibalism among other perversions