Norwegian Premiere of 4K Restoration!
The impressive debut by the late, great Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, long out of circulation, returns in this glorious restoration. A landmark precursor to Italian neorealism, Aniki-Bóbó is a children's film shot with non-professionals and meagre means in de Oliveira's native Porto under the shadow of both the Second World War and the stifling Salazar dictatorship. Its incantatory nursery rhyme title refers to a children's game in which authoritarianism is pitted against rebellion and freedom — the film's underlying theme.
A delightful, yet dark tale of two young boys' rivalry for a girl, Aniki-Bóbó introduces the love triangle, which was to become so crucial to the filmmaker's work, and creates a fascinating role reversal: children encounter adult dilemmas while the grown-ups seem irrational and petulant. Through moments of pure enchantment, Max Linder–like physical comedy, Jean Vigo–esque mischief, and breathtaking cinematography, the film nevertheless offers social reflection of the times, with a subtle comment on oppression. It's no surprise, then, that Aniki-Bóbó was denounced upon its release for its supposed immorality, which sank the film commercially just as de Oliveira faced persecution at the hands of the government; it would be over 20 years before he made another work.
This stormy backstory only adds to the film's achievement and, fatefully, to its treatise on youth and innocence. Undeniably charming — especially seen against de Oliveira's long-late style, which saw him revisit his childhood on the banks of the Douro — Aniki-Bóbó functions like a perfect bookend to one of the greatest filmmaking careers of all time.
About the restoration:
This copy results from a 4K wet gate scan of the 35mm original camera negative and the optical sound negative, complemented by distribution prints. All the film elements are preserved by Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema. The scanning, digital restoration, and colour correction were carried out under a partnership between Cineric Portugal and Irmã Lúcia Visual Effects, and the digital sound restoration was done by BillyBoom Sound Design in 2024, using a distribution print as reference. Digitization and restoration were coordinated by Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, under the framework of the FILMar programme.