At dinner that night, the captain is informed that in Aden terrorists have planted two time bombs aboard the ship.

Maria Joana runs back to her and her mother's cabin to get the Arab doll the captain presented her with earlier that evening.

The site's critics' consensus states "A Talking Picture occasionally struggles to engagingly convey its ambitious themes, but viewers attuned to its distinctive frequencies will find it well worth a watch".

Walter V. Addiego of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "A potent and troubling meditation on the state of Western society".

[4] According to Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, "The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira again shows himself to be a master of the medium with this sharply cut gem of a film about a mother and daughter sailing the Mediterranean".