The myriad faces of Portugal inspire a suitably mosaic—and musical—portrait of the country in this ambitious new film from Vicente Alves do Ó. In the prelude to the Carnation Revolution, two men—one fleeing his homeland, the other helping him escape—open up about their lives and struggles. Across 13 song-anchored stories (each derived from a different musical lineage), a prismatic chronicle of Portuguese history and its people emerges, from war-fleeing students to frontline soldiers, factory workers to cultural intellectuals, prisoners to PIDE agents, reactionaries to revolutionaries. Featuring a cast of some fifty characters, The Portuguese is a hymn, sung in many voices, to the achievements, challenges, and perseverance of a nation.