''Abraham's Valley'' ( pt, Vale Abraão) is a 1993 Portuguese

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by Manoel de Oliveira, based on a novel by Agustina Bessa-Luís, and partially inspired by

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

's 1857 novel ''

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...

''. The film was selected as the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

66th Academy Awards The 66th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1993 and took place on March 21, 1994, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p. ...

, but was not nominated.

Production

''Abraham's Valley'' was filmed in 1.66:1 on 35 mm film.

Plot

Set in mid-20th century Portugal, in the vicinity of

Lamego Lamego (; cel-x-proto, Lamecum) is a city and municipality in the Viseu District, in the Norte Region of the Douro in northern Portugal. Located on the shores of the Balsemão River, the municipality has a population of 26,691, in an area of 165 ...

, Ema is a beautiful young girl who is married off to Carlos, an older doctor and friend of her father's. Dissatisfied, she takes several lovers.

Cast

Leonor Silveira Leonor da Silveira Moreno e Lemos Gomes (born 28 October 1970) is a Portuguese film actress who made her film debut in '' The Cannibals'' for director Manoel de Oliveira in 1988. She appeared in most of Oliveira's subsequent films. She is the ...

as Ema Cardeano Paiva * Cécile Sanz de Alba as young Ema * Luís Miguel Cintra as Carlos Paiva, Ema's husband *

Ruy de Carvalho Ruy de Carvalho GCM (born 1 March 1927) is a Portuguese actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as ...

as Paulino Cardeano, Ema's father

Reception

It won the Critics Award at the 1993

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

and the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 1993

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

References

External links