yogiyamada
Known
- Messages
- 164
- Reaction score
- 52
- Points
- 28
Penultimate feature film by Manoel de Oliveira, whose refinement leads us toward a metaphysical quest in a simple yet strange film. This strangeness takes us back to silent cinema, which, like damp leaves, crackles with an invisible sound. O Estranho Caso de Angélica plays with a dual cinematic nature: on one hand, a costumbrista satire (with picturesque rural characters, omnipresent gossip, and unusual dialogues with a folkloric flair), and on the other, a romanticism that sacredly floods the profane. The quote from a Portuguese romantic poem at the beginning of the film is no mere whim.
The film is filled with symbols of all kinds—Christian, Jewish, and esoteric rural religions—reflecting a profound love for detail. Oliveira’s mise-en-scène is meticulous, theatrical, and adorned like a silent film, evoking a golden age of cinema. The protagonist, Isaac, a photographer obsessed with the past, attempts to cross the river like Orpheus after meeting a beautiful deceased woman who, in a gentle and almost imperceptible way, calls him toward the land of Persephone. Here, the film’s imprint becomes pure, silent, pantomimic—inevitably evoking, even if only faintly, Der müde Tod by Fritz Lang, whom Manoel undoubtedly admired in his lifetime.
Tráiler
The film is filled with symbols of all kinds—Christian, Jewish, and esoteric rural religions—reflecting a profound love for detail. Oliveira’s mise-en-scène is meticulous, theatrical, and adorned like a silent film, evoking a golden age of cinema. The protagonist, Isaac, a photographer obsessed with the past, attempts to cross the river like Orpheus after meeting a beautiful deceased woman who, in a gentle and almost imperceptible way, calls him toward the land of Persephone. Here, the film’s imprint becomes pure, silent, pantomimic—inevitably evoking, even if only faintly, Der müde Tod by Fritz Lang, whom Manoel undoubtedly admired in his lifetime.
Tráiler