A 1920s comedy character just walked off the screen and into your life. No, you're not drunk.
Manô, an obscure and anonymous character from popular comedies of the 1920s, escapes the destruction of an old movie studio, materializing into the real world from a celluloid film. Manô tries to adapt and survive in present-day Lisbon, for which he is unprepared. Mariana, an unemployed photographer, meets Manô and tries to help him discover the reason for his return, despite Marco, a psychologist with little sense of humor, disliking this clumsy black-and-white character.
Direction
Felner directs himself as a literal cartoon in human form.
Production
Black-and-white past collides with color Lisbon beautifully.
Director
George Felner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
George Felner cast himself as Manô after struggling to find an actor who could physically perform silent-era comedy without irony.
The film references actual Portuguese comedies of the 1920s—Manô's name nods to the era's working-class everyman archetypes.
PT
