Baltic Cinema: The Tree of Knowledge (A Árvore do Conhecimento)

Baltic Cinema: The Tree of Knowledge  (A Árvore do Conhecimento)

Wed 5 November | 18:30

£6 Full price / £4 Students, under 18s, unwaged and 65+

Eugene Green’s latest film brings together an evil ogre, a teenager, a long-dead Portuguese queen, and a very patient donkey and golden retriever to assemble a fierce but frequently hilarious fairytale indictment of neoliberal capitalism.

Gaspard, a teenager from the suburbs of Lisbon, falls into the hands of the Ogre, a man who has made a pact with the devil. The ogre uses the boy to attract tourists, whom he transforms into animals and then kills. Gaspard escapes with a donkey and a dog that he has grown fond of, and in an enchanted manor, he meets the spirit of Queen Dona Maria I. Meanwhile, the enraged Ogre sets off in pursuit…

Shot in his deadpan, flat style that borrows from both Brecht and Bresson but is somehow all his own, Eugène Green, notable for drawing inspiration from Baroque theatre and for his idiosyncratic sense of humour, returns to Portugal for the third time to direct this playful and urgent fairy tale. 

‘A film of great beauty and profound soul, and another essential chapter in one of contemporary cinema’s most spiritual and singular oeuvres.’ — International Cinephile Society

Doors open 18:30; Film starts 18:45. Baltic Kitchen is open until 18:30 for drinks, which you are welcome to take up to the cinema.

Please note we cannot offer refunds on this event.