Its stunningly composed images showing how Isaac is himself something of a ghost-given to staring off into the distance, being condescended to by those around him, a man perpetually outside the times. What he needs is to take that one extra step toward his spectral siren; the scene in which he does so might be one of the most exhilarating visions of death's sweet embrace ever filmed.
This fresh, highly original film, inspired by Oliveira's substantially different, never-filmed 1952 script, has been made with the greatest of ease and simplicity and with drollery and wit, yet its underlying impact is profoundly spiritual.
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
"Angélica" feels most like the film that argues Oliveira is this close to the beyond without ever bothering to knock first at death's door.
Too shaggy at times, with digressions into science and history that come out flat and awkward. But there's a sweet, unshakeable poetry in the main idea of the film.
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
A captivating mix of formality, ambiguity and offbeat humor. On the surface a simple fable, it's actually much more.