Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl

Reviewed by J. Lunden on September 13, 2010

At 101 years old, Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira has been making films since the 1930s. One can’t help but have respect for such a career, but, sadly, that’s about as much as I know about de Oliveira. And my knowledge of Portugal doesn’t extend much further. I do my best to swim in as many cinematic waters as I can, but there are only so many hours in the day (and the French make a lot of great films). These admissions are meant not to get me off the proverbial hook as critic, but to warn fans of de Oliveira’s work of my limited exposure.

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl pushes the limits of tolerable brevity. Coming in at a slight 64 minutes, this story of a hapless accountant who from his office window spies and subsequently falls deeply in love with the titular blonde-haired girl, smacks of an awkward break room conversation wherein one of your least favorite coworkers recounts another painfully incoherent and uneventful dream while you recall Pantera songs in an attempt to tune him or her out. I speak with no cultural authority when I say that de Oliveira’s narrative (based on an “updated” 19th century novella by Eça de Queirós) felt like it was crafted as a social lampoon aimed at the ironic mundanity of the bourgeois upper class. While I agree that those people usually suck, I’m not sure why the choir had to be punished for de Oliveira to get his point across.

The film begins with the accountant (Ricardo Trêpa) recalling his story to a stranger (Leonor Silveira) on a speeding train. His tale consists of first seeing the blonde-haired girl (Catarina Wallenstein), of his tyrannical uncle (Diogo Dória) refusing to let him marry her, and of his quest for financial stability so he may one day take her hand. These all may seem like the perfect amorous ingredients, but the film has all the romanticism of a cadaver*. And de Oliveira’s narrative comes to a surprising amount of screeching halts in order to satisfy some indulgent deviations, such as a harp recital and a brief history lesson about Eça de Queirós. There may be interest in the fragments, but the whole makes for rather arduous viewing.

Though the film undoubtedly tried my famously sturdy patience, I cannot completely dismiss Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl. After my viewing, I wondered if perhaps I was seeing a rare glimpse of a centenarian’s perspective on the world. The film is patient, at least with itself, and it does have a wry, semi-alluring cynicism. In fact, there is enough defined personality and interesting technique in de Oliveira’s film to inspire a thorough rummaging through his oeuvre. Perhaps I will one day return to Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl with a fresh perspective. Or maybe I’ll just wait until they convert it to 3D.

* My apologies to any necrophiliacs out there. For a good time, check out Lynne Stopkewich’s Kissed.

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl comes to DVD with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and is anamorphically enhanced. The disc is dual-layered, progressive and has an average video bitrate of 5.5Mbps.

I’m not sure how to approach this transfer. At times it looked like 35mm, but then the image would go flat, like it was shot digitally. Regardless, the image is unattractively thick, with darker colors all running together to form muddy masses. Black levels, however, are mostly strong, with only a minimal amount of noise. Bright colors (like reds and golds) force their way through, but are somewhat suffocated by the dark palette. There is also a fair amount of softness throughout the film. Honestly, I don’t know if these problems are production issues or transfer issues. I’m inclined to give Cinema Guild the benefit of the doubt on this one. You can judge for yourself using the captures below. Also: contrary to what the packaging states, the film’s aspect ratio is actually closer to 1.66:1 than 1.85:1.

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl is presented here with a Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448Kbps. English subtitles are presented in glorious white.

The 5.1 mix is almost entirely front-heavy with only minimal surround activity. Dialogue is generally clear, though it sometimes sounds a bit tinny. Separation (when surround channels are active) is good, though, again, the front stage does most of the work.

The Panels of São Vicente de Fora: A Poetic Vision (15min):
An odd short film by de Oliveira where a figure from one of the Saint Vincent panels explains the paintings’ significance. I actually enjoyed this more than the main feature.

Press Conference from 2009 Berlin Film Festival (73min):
This is a great feature with a lot of revealing insight about de Oliveira’s film. It also must be said that de Oliveira looks pretty damn good for a 101-year-old.

Teaser Trailer:
The film’s theatrical teaser trailer. Obviously, a 64-minute film couldn’t really afford a full trailer.

First look at “The Strange Case of Angelica” (9min):
A first look at de Oliveira’s next feature film.

[Click images for full resolution captures]