I am in awe of the director aged over 100 years making such good films. There is indeed something magical about his films--and this one is no different. Windows across a street. People do not call out to the other but only watch each other discretely. There are elegant rooms with candle-lit chandeliers. Possibly the chandeliers are lit with dozens of bulbs that look like candles (or are they real candles)?. There are no sounds of vehicles or electrical switches in camera vision. Yet the décor of the modest cloth shop is 21st century. Euro is the currency and there is a mention of a Portuguese airline, and there is a LED computer screen. The film begins and ends on a modern train compartment. For de Oliveira, time can be switched within the film.
Books, libraries, history, music played indoors to a select audience indicate a sophistication with the matching indoor décor. The conversations are graceful while the story does include mentions of loss of many handkerchiefs from the shop and the stealing of a diamond ring. When the stolen item is paid for, the resulting conversation is most elegant and spoken without raised voices. Add to this, the few Oliveira films I have seen use music only when required. Most contemporary directors cannot conceive such films. That's the magic of the de Oliveira at 100 plus years. The film will be recalled for its style and less for its tale that expects the viewer to suspend belief in logic.
The casting of the main characters is a delight. Ricardo Trepa as Macario, the beautiful Catarina Wallenstein as Luisa, and Leanor Silveira as the middle aged woman on the train. The film reminds you of the décor of Raul Ruiz' "The Mysteries of Lisbon" but that film was not set in the time when Euro was a currency of Portugal.
