O estranho caso de Angélica

In the magic-realistic The Strange Case of Angelica, the Jewish photographer Isaac (played by Manoel de Oliveira’s grandson Ricardo Trêpa) is asked late one evening in the Douro Valley in the 1950s to take one last portrait of a young woman who died that afternoon, just after her marriage. His model then comes to life in front of the lens of the photographer. She blinks her eyes and smiles, only very briefly, but she smiles and Isaac becomes obsessed by her in a light-hearted, subtle and detailed fable about life, love and death.
De Oliveira wrote this story in 1952. Last year the film, in which he experiments for the first time with digital effects, had its premiere at the Cannes Festival. De Oliveira is now 102 and he received a standing ovation. His career started in 1931 with the documentary Douro, faina fluvial. Since 1990, De Oliveira has directed 25 features; he is already working on his next film.