Abraham's Valley
Schedule
Overview
This is the story of Ema, a woman of menacing beauty. She would have three lovers, but her successive loves brought her no more than a feeling of great disillusion so that she came to think of herself as nothing more than "a soul in the balance."
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Review
Abraham’s Valley (1993) by director Manoel de Oliveira is an extended, digitally restored version of the film that made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Although the film makes a nod to Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary, it unfolds as a narrative of love and power set in Portugal. Like many accomplished writers, director Oliveira forges his own realm of love and passion, diverging from the original story. As audiences immerse themselves in the story set on stage with stunning landscapes and the protagonist’s emotions, they travel through a woman’s journey across time and history. Let me introduce this film through the director’s own words: “How a woman resists men, who are the power, using the force of her poetic vision of the world, even if it is just an illusion. Emma hangs onto lyricism, to the epic, to a way of making poetry from the world that surrounds her in order to resist the masculine characters, who see the world as nothing but a series of power games. (Sung MOON)
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Credit
- DirectorManoel de OLIVEIRA
- ProducerPaulo BRANCO
- ScreenplayManoel de OLIVEIRA
- CinematographyMário BARROSO
- Production DesignMaria José BRANCO
- EditorManoel DE OLIVEIRA, Valérie LOISELEUX
- SoundHenri MAIKOFF, Christophe WINDING
- CastLeonor SILVEIRA
Film Source
Luxbox⎜natacha@luxboxfilms.com
Director
Manoel de OLIVEIRA
Manoel de Oliveira, a Portuguese filmmaker, is known for richly meditative and often self-reflexive films frequently inspired by literary and theatrical works. Although his career began in the silent film era, he attained international recognition in the late 20th century, and his most prolific period was in his senescence.
