Nocturnal and steeped in sinister chiaroscuro, Pedro Costa’s latest film follows Ventura, the enigmatic lead of Costa’s earlier groundbreaking Colossal Youth (2006), as he traverses a seemingly endless night populated by the ghosts of his and his country’s past.
From the restless spirits that haunt this decaying urban landscape, Costa turns his exploration of memory and the night into a spellbinding cinematic experience.
Winner of the Best Director prize at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival and featured in many Top 5 Films of the Year lists worldwide,Horse Money is a hauntingly beautiful contemplation of Portugal’s tumultuous past and uncertain future from a true poet of contemporary European cinema.
Marking Second Run's first ever Blu-ray release - and also available on DVD format - Horse Money is presented from a superb new director-approved HD master, and also includes Pedro Costa's short film O nosso homem, plus exclusive new special features including an introduction by filmmaker Thom Andersen and a Pedro Costa in conversation with Laura Mulvey at London's ICA Cinema as well as Trailers and Teasers for the film, and a booklet featuring essays on the film by Jonathan Romney and Chris Fujiwara.
2014 Locarno International Film Festival / Winner: Best Director 2015 Yamagata International Festival / Winner: Flaherty Prize
In the 'Top 5 Best Films of the Year' lists of Sight & Sound, Little White Lies, Film Comment, Cinema Scope, Indiewire, Village Voice and many more worldwide publications.
"Somewhere between Rembrandt and Eraserhead" RogerEbert.com
"Elliptical and mysterious; best to let the film’s mesmerizing tableaux descend upon you in the dreamy darkness, then sift its haunting memories for precise meaning in the hours, days and weeks that follow" Mark Kermode, The Observer
"Film poetry of an altogether higher order" David Jenkins, Little White Lies
"A film of rough and rigorous poetry" (5-stars) Danny Leigh, Financial Times
"A beautiful and grotesque evocation of repressed cultural memory... One of the most impressive accomplishments of Costa's career" Jordan Cronk, Little White Lies
“Costa has again made a singular docu-fiction hybrid that defies classification as readily as it reimagines the possibilities of cinema” Scott Foundas, Variety
"I could go on rhapsodizing about the wonders of Horse Money, which becomes more alluring and impressive with every viewing" Film Comment
"A visual and poetical treat... rare and challenging" Screen Daily
"Pedro Costa reaffirms his position as one of contemporary cinema's finest filmmakers... a hypnotic masterpiece" Cine-File
"Horse Money re-invents both the world and its moral prerogatives" Jonathan Rosenbaum - Films of the Year
"A singular and deeply resonant work that finds a mesmerising poetry amidst the chiaroscuro rubble of post-colonial Portugal... eloquent, mythical and sublime" CineVue
“Horse Money is yet another masterpiece from one of the world's greatest film artists” Toronto International Film Festival
"A great and piercingly beautiful work of cinema" Film Society of Lincoln Center
"A phantasmagorical vision of psychological purgatory, Horse Money will enrapture... as sinister as anything from David Lynch or Costa's beloved Jacques Tourneur" The Hollywood Reporter
Extras
Presented from a new, director approved HD master (Full 1080 HD Blu-ray)
Pedro Costa’s short film O nosso homem (Our Man, 2010).
New and exclusive additional features:
Filmmaker Thom Andersen introduces Horse Money - recorded at the Filmforum, Los Angeles, December 2015.
Pedro Costa in conversation with Laura Mulvey at the ICA Cinema, London.
Horse Money Trailers and Teasers, made by the director.
Booklet featuring essays on the film by Jonathan Romney and Chris Fujiwara.
