Abraham's Valley (1993)

Ema is a very attractive but innocent girl, so pretty that cars crash in her presence. Young marries Dr. Carlo Paiva, who she is not attracted to, but is her father's friend. They move to ... See full summary »

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writers:

Agustina Bessa-Luís (novel), Manoel de Oliveira (adaptation)

Stars:

Leonor Silveira, Cécile Sanz de Alba, Luís Miguel Cintra

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonor Silveira	...	Ema Cardeano Paiva
Cécile Sanz de Alba	...	Ema em jovem / Young Ema
Luís Miguel Cintra	...	Carlos de Paiva
Ruy de Carvalho	...	Paulino Cardeano
Luís Lima Barreto	...	Pedro Luminares
Micheline Larpin	...	Simona
Diogo Dória	...	Fernando Osorio
José Pinto	...	Caires
Filipe Cochofel	...	Fortunato
João Perry	...	Pedro Dossem
Glória de Matos	...	Maria do Loreto
António Reis	...	Semblano
Isabel Ruth	...	Ritinha
Dina Treno	...	Branca
Dalila Carmo	...	Marina (as Dalila Carmo e Sousa)

Storyline

Ema is a very attractive but innocent girl, so pretty that cars crash in her presence. Young marries Dr. Carlo Paiva, who she is not attracted to, but is her father's friend. They move to the Valley of Abraham. Carlo loves her, but decides to sleep in a separate room, to avoid waking Ema when he has to return late at night. With time she begins to feel unhappy about her marriage so, with all the freedom she has, she takes a lover.

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Plot Keywords:

voice over narration | rose | femme fatale | doctor | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Goofs

Ema claims that "rose" derives from the "old Brahman language" (Sanskrit) where it means "swinger". In reality, the word is derived ultimately from Old Persian wrda-, "flower", from the Proto-Indo-European root *wrdhos ("sweetbriar"), perhaps related to a word meaning "grow."

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Connections

Referenced in The Strange Case of Angelica (2010)

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Soundtracks

Clair de Lune
Music by Claude Debussy
Performed by Nuno Vieira de Almeida (piano)

User Reviews

dream atmosphere

I thought it was Rio Paiva. Definitely not Ribeira Grande. But then I discovered the beauty of Douro connection with Paiva. First of all, this is not a movie. There are no: high budget, jet set, studio tricks, special effects; neither any interest on that subject/form of film-making. Which is good, because it identifies Portuguese history (time and space) trough still images, giving some approach to Portuguese society and its complexity in terms of traditional behavior. This is a good film to fall asleep and then watch it sleeping. The process in which the narrative is constructed is very similar to other great Oliveira's masterpieces. As a film that you can watch sleeping, I do not pretend to make my statement as cynical as some would guess. But, instead of that, I pretend to clearly point this movie as one of the most potential surreal films I've ever watched. The plot makes it own sense if you really want to get involve in its own poetry. This is not a star system production, fortunately. Therefore, "watch it, then argue into the night".

Details

Country:

France Portugal Switzerland

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

21 January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Valley of Abraham

Filming Locations:

Peso da Regua, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Madragoa Filmes, Gemini Films, Light Night

Technical Specs

Runtime:

187 min 203 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1