Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl (2009)

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 & 2 nominations.

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.

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Plot Keywords:

train | love | flashback | penniless | cape verde | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Portugal Spain France

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

6 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Singularités d'une jeune fille blonde

Filming Locations:

Lisbon, Portugal

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,979

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ricardo Trêpa is the director's grandson

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Soundtracks

Arabesque No.1
for harp
By Claude Debussy
Performed by Ana Paula Miranda

User Reviews

Portugese veteran's short story movie.

Is this the first movie by a hundred hear old director and is it any good? Clerk Trêpa working in his uncle's office becomes infatuated with the girl with the fan who he sees in the window opposite the one at which he clerks. He meets and wins her with curious ease but his uncle's unexplained opposition sends him off to Cape Verde where he makes a fortune off screen, that he loses equally easily and he finds his new intended has this alarming flaw - that's an hour and we can go home.

The simplicity of the staging and the glowing interior camera-work do contribute atmosphere but the emphasis is all over the place and the characterisations never connect up.

I'm not a great admirer of the films de Olivera made half a century back so I'm not likely to find this piece more than a curiosity. It has the Old Man Film quality of pieces like Huston's THE DEAD or IMMORTAL STORY without being as good.