''Aniki-Bóbó'' is a 1942 Portuguese film directed by

Manoel de Oliveira Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...

. It is his first feature-length film. The actors are mostly children from Oliveira's hometown,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. The script was adapted by Manoel de Oliveira from a short story by , ''Meninos Milionários'' (lit. ''Millionaire Children''). '''Aniki-Bóbó is a rhyme from a children's game, akin to

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" – which can be spelled a number of ways – is a children's counting-out rhyme, used to select a person in games such as tag, or for selecting various other things. It is one of a large group of similar rhymes in whic ...

Reception

The film was not very well received, but with time it gained recognition and was finally accepted as one of the most important Portuguese films of its time. In several respects, this film seems to anticipate

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism (), also known as the Golden Age of Italian Cinema, was a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They p ...

. It would be 21 years before Oliveira directed his next feature film.

References

Sources

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External links

* 1942 films 1942 drama films 1940s Portuguese-language films Portuguese black-and-white films Films directed by Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese drama films Films shot in Portugal {{1940s-drama-film-stub