You are here:

What Makes Quim Run?

Name: What Makes Quim Run?
Director: Mariano Bartolomeu
Released: 1991
Duration: 22 min

No Poster Available

Representation Score

8.1/10

Excellent

1991

Director

Mariano Bartolomeu

Runtime

22 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Mariano Bartolomeu’s film is a sophisticated allegory that uses individual mental instability to reflect the sociopolitical turmoil of post-independence Angola. By blending reality and fantasy, the narrative challenges conventional storytelling and explores the fragmentation of national identity. The film effectively deconstructs the traditional heroic male archetype through a fragile protagonist. It also highlights the protagonist's struggles with fatherhood, which undermines traditional masculine authority. While the film offers strong cultural depth and a non-Western perspective, it remains limited in its exploration of diverse sexual identities. The representation of disability is central to the plot but remains tied to the protagonist's personal crisis.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does What Makes Quim Run? have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film focuses on traditional heterosexual relationships and does not include any explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or queer-coded subtext.

How does What Makes Quim Run? portray gender?

Fair

The movie challenges the typical heroic male archetype by portraying a fighter pilot as emotionally unstable. It also highlights the protagonist's struggles with fatherhood, which undermines traditional masculine authority.

How racially and ethnically diverse is What Makes Quim Run??

Good

Set in Angola, the film emphasizes a non-Western perspective. It delves into the complexities of decolonization and the post-independence era through a local viewpoint.

How does What Makes Quim Run? represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative contrasts traditional spiritual beliefs with modern psychological issues. It uses the tension between a witch doctor and rationalism to question post-colonial stability.

Does What Makes Quim Run? include disability representation?

Good

A child's disability serves as the main trigger for the protagonist's psychological breakdown. The film uses this struggle to explore broader societal and systemic issues.

Present on Screen

Challenges the traditional heroic male archetype through a fragile protagonist.
Uses Angolan cultural contexts and traditional spiritual practices effectively.
Critiques post-colonial national identity through sophisticated allegory.

Limited or Absent

Does not explicitly represent LGBTQ+ identities or queer-coded subtext.
Uses disability primarily as a narrative catalyst for the protagonist's distress.

Official Synopsis

A young jet pilot fighter Quim has great difficulty accepting that his recently born child is disabled. His mother advises him to see a witch doctor, but Quim refuses. Instead he looks for his former mistress Djamila. His mind is completely confused and he no longer can distinguish reality from fantasy. A metaphor of Angola after its independence.

How are these scores produced? →