"Arguably the outstanding work of fiction to come out of Italy in recent years, Antonio Tabucchi's novel According to Pereira, provides Mastroianni with one of his best roles in some time." (David Rooney, Variety) The setting is 1938 Lisbon. Mastroianni is a journalist, widowed and reclusive, drawn to the literature of the past and oblivious to the present. He hires a young assistant, and meeting this purportedly apolitical young man who is actually deep into the underground antifascist struggle is the beginning of Pereira's awareness of the political turbulence all around him-and the beginning of his intellectual reawakening as well. "Mastroianni (approaches his role) with intelligence and humor...flesh(ing) out Tabucchi's formidable creation as a pathetic figure revitalized by the political events to which he contributes." (Rooney) The score by Ennio Morricone draws on Portuguese tunes of the era.