A Caixa (1994) User Reviews

A poor blind man and a box that everyone wants to get their hands on

[karnak · 8/10 · 23 June 2001]

Lisbon, a normal day in one of the typical narrow streets of the capital of Portugal. In a small house, in a dirty little street, in a dark corner of the city lives a poor blind beggar, which earns his living through the selling of useless trinkets such as buttons, erasers and other parafernalia. A situation not uncommon in most(if not all) the capitals in the world. The only curious situation is that the blind man keeps all his savings in a little black box donated to him by the government. It is through this box that the poor man proves his visual handicap. And it is this same BOX (a CAIXA)that is envied by all the blind man´s lazy neighbours who are jealous of the little money that is given to the poor man. Curiously enough, even if all the neighbors have the gift of seeing, none of them have the guts to get a job, instead prefering to imagine schemes that will allow them to get their hands on the said BOX. As if this wasn´t enough, the blind man is teased and abused by his only frustrated daughter and her husband, who live through the small earnings of his little BOX. The life on this (intentionally) excessive dramatic small world is suddenly turned upside down when someone steals the BOX of the blind man unleashing a chain of events that will have a surprising end. What starts as an history of miseries (like neo-realism gone really, really "bad")and social frustration gets an aura of surrealism and nonsense that is rarely seen in most films out there who pretend to describe the horrors of this world and just end with a lot of excessive dramatism and cinematic self-pity which can only been described as phony and grotesque. The story of a blind man and his BOX who is despised because he is the only one who earns money (and the only one who really works to earn it) unveils some realities about human relations that are usually obscured by "blinding" moral principles. SEE to believe.

Great movie but a poor argument

[diogom_branco · 6/10 · 30 October 2016]

This is the first film that I have seen directed by Manoel de Oliveira and I have to say that I expected much more. The idea is great, as a Portuguese citizen I can say what happens in a movie happens in the real life too. People who live in small villages or small neighborhoods act small and think small too, and everyone is not satisfied with his own life, the life of the other is much better than our own. The film, of course, dramatizes this situation by making comparisons with this blind man witch I think he can't think of anything better. In my opinion what is missing here is a good well written argument and this is a thing that I think that can be lost in translation and that's maybe why I'm the only one here to approach this point but it's just my opinion, go and watch the movie!

The less boring Oliveira film...

[bucklkraxn · 10/10 · 18 March 2003]

Certainly a masterpiece... The old Manoel de Oliveira presented us with a fine comedy, where everything falls apart, very dark humour and questions on the human nature.

The best of Oliveira, even for those who don't like his work.