When life deals a terrible blow, how can we carry on? This is a question asked, subtly, in "I'm Going Home," a film by legendary director Manoel de Oliveira, which makes its Milwaukee premiere at UWM's Union Cinema, Fri.-Sun., Aug. 30-Sept. 1.

Gilbert Valence, played with inspiring aplomb by Michel Piccoli, is an accomplished actor of stage and silver screen -- although he's much less enamored of TV. As the film opens, he is performing onstage with Catherine Deneuve in Eugene Ionesco's "Exit the King." When the star exits the stage he is informed that his wife, daughter and son-in-law have all died in a car accident, leaving Gilbert to care for his 6-year-old grandson Serge.

Remarkably, Gilbert's life doesn't seem to change much. We don't see him grieving much -- although he does seem somber, we don't know if he was always of this disposition -- and he gets down to the business of raising his grandson, with the help of a housekeeper/nanny. He enjoys Paris with Serge, stops to sign autographs and continues to act in stage productions. He reads the paper and drinks a coffee at the same table in the same cafe every day.

Indeed, the scenes with Gilbert roaming the streets of Paris bring the city to the screen like few films have in the past few years. "Amelie" was similarly successful. From a mugging to the traffic, we also see the darker side of urban life.

Gilbert meets up with his friend and agent George (Antione Chappey), who tells Gilbert that a young actress is romantically interested in the actor. When he goes to his agent's office to hear about a potential television role, he meets the actress but is cool. He also dismisses the role.

But when an American director (John Malkovich) arrives to hire Gilbert to replace a last-minute opening in his film, which is due to start filming in three days, Gilbert can't refuse, even though he has reservations about learning a role in English in just three days.

And he's right. When the filming begins, the usually masterful Gilbert struggles and his cool, calm and collected self begins to unravel.

Some poetic scenes highlight the 92-year-old Portuguese auteur's light touch, especially one in which Gilbert is talking to his agent at a cafe. Gilbert has just purchased a new pair of shoes and for the entire scene, the camera is focused on these new shoes and Gilbert's expressive gestures.

"I'm Going Home" shows at 7 and 9 p.m. Fri., Aug. 30, Sat., Aug. 31 and Sun., Sept. 1. There is also a 5 p.m. showing on Saturday and Sunday. The Union Theatre is located on the second floor of the UWM Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd. Admission is $5. Call (414) 229-4070 for more information.

The 90-minute "I'm Going Home" launches the UWM Theatre's new season, which features similar Milwaukee premieres of film like Catherine Breillat's "Fat Girl" and two films featured during the Iranian Weekend, September 6-8: "Baran" and "Daughters of the Sun."

For this reviewer the season's highlights are big screen presentations of three Italian classics rarely seen in Milwaukee: Luchino Visconti's 1960 "Rocco and His Brothers," which traces a southern family's move to the north in search of work, "The Wide Blue Road," a technicolor triumph starring Yves Montand as an Adriatic fisherman at odds with his fellow townsmen and fisherman, and Vittorio De Sica's brilliant "Umberto D.," from 1952, which centers on a retired civil servant struggling to make ends meet and preserve not only his dignity but his best friend, a black and white dog named Flag. Astonishingly, "The Wide Blue Road," released in 1958, is only now making is US theatrical debut.

For a complete schedule and more information, visit www.aux.uwm.edu/union/film.htm.