The taking of Santa Maria has the merit of showing one of the most important chapters of contemporary Portuguese history, at least one interpretation of this event, which is interspersed with a romance, but this imagined by screenwriters, between two young people who are caught by the political crossfire, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. The film also ends up drawing a parallel, on one hand to portray a certain society at the time, very conservative and prejudiced that is confronted with its decline, through the heroic act will say some, not others, to challenge the regime of Salazar. And on the other hand, through, the vehement opposition of the father Alfredo Enes, a magnificent work of composition of the actor Victor North, the passion that his daughter Ilda has for one of the revolutionaries who hold the liner Santa Maria. Do not know if it was on purpose or not by the writers, to create this analogy because in both the regime and the character are exponents of a feudal society where the rights were restricted, particularly for women and that are questioned with this international incident. But this was so the case, I really liked that detail. The only negative side, I wish to highlight some of the scenes in general prolonged the deadlock, those endless dialogues between Galvao, Sotomaior and supporters of the initiative. Or maybe not. Maybe the idea was to create that feeling that anxiety among the public, but prolong the inevitable would be counterproductive in this case because everyone knows the final outcome of the assault, well at least in Portugal. I'll redo this last statement, well at least some knowledge Portuguese! I'm being ironic. Overall, the film is an ingenious approach to the complex chapter in the history of the country and the beautiful love story.
