“The Far East has played an enormous role in the collective imagination of Portugal; Camoes, Mendes Pinto, and a host of other artists and writers have lived and worked in Asia, often using their newly-adopted continent as a source of inspiration. One of the last in this illustrious line was the poet Wenceslau de Moraes. The Island of Loves is an account of key events in his remarkable career, as well as an insightful portrait of the turbulent events which shook Portugal at the end of the nineteenth century. After working for years in minor diplomatic posts throughout Asia, Moraes resigned from the foreign service to live, in the manner of an impoverished peasant, near the tomb of his Japanese wife. There, he composed his greatest works, while tragically pursuing his wife's young niece, Ko-haru. More than merely an old man's fascination with youth, his interest in Ko-haru became an obsession with an ideal of ‘pure love'.... Director Paulo Rocha derived his structure for the film from classical Chinese poet Chu-Yuan's Nine Songs, a key influence on Moraes' writing.” Richard Pena, The Film Center