Aniki-Bóbó

Not shown in Toronto for over 15 years and largely out of circulation, the impressive debut by the late, great Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira 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.

ANDRÉA PICARD

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 frame of the FILMar project, part of the European Financial Mechanism EEA Grants 2020–2024.