Aniki Bóbó (1942)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writers:

Nascimento Fernandes (dialogue)
António Lopes Ribeiro (dialogue)

Release Date:

18 December 1942 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

People work on and around the Douro river, without paying much |

Plot Keywords:

River | Shoplifting | Working Class | Children | Train

Cast

Américo Botelho	...	Estrelas
Feliciano David	...	Pompeu
Manuel de Azevedo	...	Street singer
Nascimento Fernandes	...	Shop owner
Fernanda Matos	...	Teresinha
Rafael Mota	...	Rafael
António Palma	...	Shop customer
Armando Pedro	...	Shop employee
Antonio Melo Pereira	...	Batatinhas
Pinto Rodrigues	...	Policeman
António Santos	...	Eduardinho
Vital dos Santos	...	Teacher
Horácio Silva	...	Carlitos
António Soares	...	Pistarim (as António MoraisSoares)
Manuel Sousa	...	Filosopher

Also Known As:

Aniki-Bóbó

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Portugal

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Douro River, Porto, Portugal

Company:

Produções António Lopes Ribeiro

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Porto da Minha Infância (2001)

Children's movies anthology

Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest world poets, which happened to be portuguese, as the director of Aniki Bobó once said something like "No children's book should be written for children". I apply this to cinema. There's no sense in making children's movies completely empty of any idea, as hollywood loves to do them (maybe because noone there can make them another way). For those who never saw Aniki Bobó I will say this movie is the cinematic equivalent of Éxupery's "The Prince". A poetic tale for children, absolutely breathtaking in terms of the dramatic intensity created around such a simple story; but, at the same time, a deep reflexion on the theme of human behaviours and conscience. Its characters portrait innocence, vain, envy, generosity and the consequences of all that. (This movie also reminds a soviet old short movie, which tells Romeo and Juliet incarnated into two school children, but I'm afraid I forgot the name of the director and of the movie; if you have any idea of what film that might be, it would be nice to tell me, please). But apart from the second senses of all the movie, it should also be apreciated for it portraits Porto's society and way of living of that time as well as the city's physical appearance, which makes this movie, along with "Porto, faina fluvial", from the same director, and a few others from other people, a vital document for the city's history. An all time classic which should be better known, for the sake of the cinema.