TESTAMENTO

Starring Nelson Xavier, Chico Diaz. Written by Mario Prata from the novle by Germano Almeida. Directed by Francisco Manso. (AA) 117 min. Opens August 18. ***

Not many films are set in Cape Verde, a little-known former Portuguese colony off the coast of Africa. So that alone would make probably make Testamento worth seeing, even if it wasn't very good.

Fortunately, the movie -- based the novel Napumoceno's Will by Cape Verdean writer Germano Almeida -- is indeed good, and it just happens to use the country's desert-like hills, desolate beaches and shanty towns in an expressive way to reflect the protagonist's moods, so viewers wind up with a very clear sense of a place that rarely shows up on the evening news.

The film's story is simple but moving. A rich businessman, Mr. Napumoceno (Nelson Xavier), dies in 1984, and his greedy nephew, Carlos (Chico Diaz), is shocked to find himself disinherited. Napumoceno's estate instead goes to his illegitimate 25-year-old daughter, Graca (Maria Ceiça), who hadn't known that the town's wealthiest man was her father, and thought he had been paying attention to her merely because he was a drooling old lech. Moving from her impoverished mother's rooms into Napucemo's mansion, she learns that he has recorded his life story for her on a series of cassettes.

The rest of the movie chiefly focuses on Napucemo's story, as the daughter and '80s Cape Verde slowly fade into the background.

His tale begins comically. He grew up as an amoral hustler who bribed and weaseled his way to the top of the import-export business, while virtually everyone else in town remained trapped in Third World poverty. As the years go by, however, he becomes increasingly isolated, bitter and haunted by missed chances for love and family.

In other hands, the story might easily have seemed false and sentimental, but the Brazilian cast is accomplished, and Portuguese director Francisco Manso does an excellent job of negotiating the shift from broad comedy to romantic tragedy. -- TOM LYONS