"Douro, Faina Fluvial" or "Working/Labor on the Douro River" is a Portuguese black-and-white documentary from 1931, so this one will soon have its 90th anniversary and this was the first of oh so many filmmaking efforts by director Manoel de Oliveira, who was in his early 20s still at that point and yeah well he died not too long ago at an ancient age way into his 100s and the fact that he made films already when hitler was not even in power in Germany makes it obvious how long he's been in the industry. I would say that for a rookie filmmaker this was okay all in all, but in general I still give it a thumbs-down. It seems artistic occasionally, but as a whole, it is not better than some documentary movies from 10 or even 20 years earlier and also way inferior to the animated films from the 1930s, even if that is mostly because of how great animation was back then, not that this film here was bad or anything. What else can I say about it. Don't be confused by soundtracks added later on, this is a silent film. It may be interesting to the grandchildren and their grandchildren to see some of the people in this movie here and honestly sometimes they seemed so happy which was nice to see in my opinion. Overall, the impression aspect without a story, without a plot, without us knowing anything about those in front of the camera, is just not strong enough. this film gets a thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.

I believe this is something of an experimental short film/documentary by the director Manoel de Oliveira, but for a first effort the result is satisfying. It basically isn't much more than a portrait of labor and industry around Douro River in the city of Porto, but it stands alone for its innovative filming techniques which attempt to capture as many images and areas of the city as possible - something that could be described as cinematographic liberty.

On paper, the idea of this 'Douro, Faina Fluvial' is simple and even minimalist. Still, it offers things which many so-called more "complete" movies don't, starting with the cinematographic liberty I mentioned.

Manoel de Oliveira's first film is a briskly cut summary of a day in the working lives of riverside folk on the banks of the Douro River.

It's an early signpost to later technique, notably his capturing and framing of aesthetically pleasing shots. This is one of the appeals of 'Douro' - it's ravishing to look at - but it's also a valuable document of working practices, and it shows (a little self-consciously, it must be said) the arrival of the technology that would change the face of the river banks around the Ponte de D. Luís, in Porto.

One false and unnecessary note is the introduction of a little fictional vignette of a story - a worker is 'trampled' by oxen, to the great dismay of his sweetheart. But this doesn't take much away from a never-less-than-interesting little film.