Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl is a 2009 Portuguese romance film directed by Manoel de Oliveira. Oliveira's grandson has a starring role. It played at the New York Film Festival and was released on DVD. Plot Macário tells his story to a woman while on a train, telling her about his attraction to a woman named Luisa whom he first notices in a window across the street from his accounting office. With the help of a mutual acquaintance, Macário is introduced to Luisa at a salon. Macário asks his uncle, who is also his employer, if he can have his permission to marry Luisa. His uncle says that if he does marry her, he will be fired and will be disinherited. Despite his uncle's refusal, Macário decides that he wants to marry Luisa anyway. Due to his failure to find employment, Macário travels to Cape Verde to try to raise money as part of an unnamed business proposition. Macário manages to receive a fortune and his uncle later accepts the marriage. On a trip to buy a wedding ring, Macário discovers that Luisa is a shoplifter and does not marry her. As the story is told to the woman on the train, the outside scenery changes from snowy to green. Production The film is based on a short story by 19th-century Portuguese writer Eça de Queiros. The director's grandson Ricardo Trêpa plays the role of Macário. A review from The New York Times described the film as "essentially a parable about romantic dreams" and that everything within it is framed, as in the film's plot is framed by the train trip, Luisa is framed by a window as well as seen through a window, and behind Luisa is a framed portrait. Director Manoel de Oliveira completed the film when he was 100 years old, making him the oldest man to direct a feature film.