Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl (2009)
"Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura" (original title)

A young man falls helplessly in love with a mysterious blonde woman who turns his life upside down.

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writers:

Eça de Queirós (short story), Manoel de Oliveira (adaptation),

Stars:

Ricardo Trêpa, Catarina Wallenstein, Diogo Dória

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ricardo Trêpa	...	Macário
Catarina Wallenstein	...	Luísa
Diogo Dória	...	Francisco
Júlia Buisel	...	D. Vilaça
Leonor Silveira	...	Senhora
Luís Miguel Cintra	...	Himself
Glória de Matos	...	D. Sande
Filipe Vargas	...	Amigo
Rogério Samora	...	Chapéu de Palha
Miguel Guilherme	...	Faleiro
Rogério Vieira
Paulo Matos	...	Desconhecido
António Reis	...	Cónego Savedra
Miguel Seabra	...	Notário
Luís Lima Barreto	...	Desembargador

Storyline

On a train to the Algarve, Macário tells his story to a sympathetic woman he's just met. In flashbacks he arrives in Lisbon to work as an accountant and a broker for his uncle. From his office window, he sees a young woman, Luísa: he's intrigued and finds her beautiful; she holds a Chinese fan near her face. He arranges to meet her, and they fall in love. When he tells his uncle he wants to marry, not only does his uncle disapprove, he fires Macário who then leaves his uncle's home to live on his own. Penniless, he takes a job in Cape Verde to earn some money so Luísa and he can wed. Will she wait, and what of her peculiarities? His seatmate on the train wants the whole story.

---

Plot Keywords:

love | train | fan | broker | cape verde | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Details

Country:

Portugal Spain France

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

6 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl

Filming Locations:

Lisbon, Portugal

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmes do Tejo, Les Films de l'Après-Midi, Eddie Saeta S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min 64 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) 64 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

User Reviews

A filmed metaphysics of film

This partly fairytale-like, partly almost surrealist movie is a little gem about gain, loss and regain, about how far one comes in being honest. It is amazing in many respects, as usually with the films of Manoel De Oliveira, and absolutely unique. E.g., the communication between Macário and Luísa takes mostly place between windows. Windows as such are compromises, openings of a wall which separate the inside from the outside, in-between-land that belongs to nowhere. Then the story obviously sets in a noble and stylistically rigid society, possibly in the 19th century, in which the novel had been written. But suddenly you see a computer screen and people paying in Euro. While Ricardo Trêpa, nephew of the director, and Leonor Silveira belong to the director's film-family, Catarina Wallenstein (who has not much to say and nothing special to act) is a true surprise, doubtlessly one of the most beautiful women ever having appeared on the silver screen, yet completely unknown hitherto outside of Portugal.