As quarter-life crises go, the one skilled by tousle-haired musician Nicolau in “The Luminous Life” appears extra endurable than most. Sure, he’s unemployed, residing at residence, lately broke up along with his dream girl and is firmly satisfied that he’ll by no means love that means once more — but it surely’s spring in Lisbon, town’s sidewalks, bars and cinemas are alive with social prospects for an affable, good-looking younger lad comparable to he, and he’s not about to overlook out on all of them. Which is to say the title of Portuguese director João Rosas‘ debut function isn’t in any respect ironic: This droll, pleasant romantic comedy is an ode to the nice occasions that may be had amid and round heartache, and the therapeutic that ultimately comes out of that very battle.

To most viewers, Nicolau — performed with irresistible, frivolously goofy guilelessness by Francisco Melo — will likely be a welcome new acquaintance. However for Rosas, and anybody who’s adopted his profession so far, the character is a well-known one, developed throughout 12 years and three quick movies alongside a coming-of-age arc roughly akin to François Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel. Within the final of them, 2020’s “Catavento,” the teenaged Nicolau was on the awkward brink of maturity; within the first full-length outing for director, character and actor alike, the boy has change into a person, solely to comprehend what a boy he nonetheless is.

Not that audiences require any of this background data to take pleasure in “The Luminous Life,” which is totally self-contained and broadly, wittily relatable in its depiction of Zoomer liberties and insecurities. Bowing internationally in Karlovy Fluctuate’s principal competitors — having world-premiered on residence turf at IndieLisboa — Rosas’ movie has the makings, given the suitable multi-platform arthouse dealing with, of a generational touchstone for curious youthful cinephiles. On the very least, additional pageant programmers will leap on a sunny, easygoing merchandise that can function a vivid palate-cleanser in any program dominated by heavier fare.

It’s been occurring a 12 months since Nicolau was dumped by long-term girlfriend Inês (Margarida Dias), a lady who, to listen to him describe her, represents such an unmatchable apex of femininity that he could as nicely dwell the remainder of his life as a eunuch. Nonetheless, it’s his twenty fourth birthday, and his associates received’t let him mope the day away. As a substitute, they rope him into watching a choral efficiency that opens the movie on an ebullient, life-giving word, earlier than occurring to much less dignified, extra drunken hijinks. Becoming a member of within the festivities is outgoing French pupil Chloé (Cécile Matignon, vastly interesting), ostensibly in a relationship however flirting overtly with Nicolau, who even after a couple of beers is just too mournful to choose up the indicators. Whereas his longtime finest buddy Mariana (Francisca Alarcão, additionally a recurring presence from the shorts) encourages him to get laid — “She doesn’t need to be the love of your life” — he sees no worth in informal pleasure.

And but life retains handing it to him anyway, in matches and begins that ultimately add up to an entire renewal: an condominium share away from his mother and father, who’re going by way of life adjustments of their very own; a brand new job with pleasant colleagues on the metropolis’s cinemathèque; a breakthrough gig for his long-languishing band; even the opportunity of a relationship if he’s prepared and keen sufficient to chase it. Partially, “The Luminous Life” is a lesson in embracing the brand new, whereas elsewhere, it cautions us to revisit previous possibilities and encounters we could have handed up too swiftly.

Both means, it’s a buoyant celebration of claiming sure somewhat than no, and a valentine to a vibrant, spontaneous metropolis the place no man can stay an island for too lengthy. Rosas and cinematographer Paulo Menezes shoot Lisbon’s streetlife, nightlife and even its quiet cemetery parks with the breezy, sauntering stream of Eric Rohmer’s Paris, and infrequently the hot-to-the-touch luminescence of Wong Kar-wai’s Hong Kong. Café lamps flush rosily together with the characters’ faces. A white Breton-striped tee ripples and positively gleams in outside morning daylight. “The Luminous Life” is a movie constructed from such small, fleetingly feelgood sensory particulars — moments that may brighten a day or, if sufficient of them line up good, get a damaged coronary heart restarted.