Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe

A film in three Acts. Well constructed. The real commentary on the story is given by the camera. In each Act, a major character is introduced on screen after other characters are shown speaking to that person. The effect is unusual but good. The end has the camera retreating from the house and its characters. Open ended. Religion and madness in the family come into focus. A cousin blindly falls in love with another cousin. Could have been alternately titled "The Strange Case of Benilde" to be parallel or twinning with de Oliveira's later work "The Strange Case of Angelica"