La Vallee (aka "The Valley Obscured By Clouds")
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Movie Reviews of La Vallee (aka "The Valley Obscured By Clouds")
Movie Review: a road less traveled
Summary: 5 Stars
It's not easy to do justice to La Vallee in a few sentences. It weaves adventure, anthropology, social criticism, nature, and relationships into a parable of self-revelation. The film focuses on Viviane, one of the beautiful people who know all good things except heart-felt passion. Literally by accident, her fascination with exotic feathers draws her into an expedition with a "family" of utopian idealists. As they cross New Guinea in search of an isolated valley, Viviane simultaneously experiences a joyful odyssey across her suppressed inner landscapes. Sumptuously filmed events interlaced with moments of self-revelation transform Viviane from a pampered woman of the world to an impassioned child of nature, and beyond. Each character influences her personal quest differently: pragmatic enlightenment (Olivier), universal love (Hermine), visionary fanaticism (Gataen), oneness with nature (native tribe).
Outer and inner realities begin to merge, eventually reflecting and enhancing each other in mystical parallelism. She becomes possessed by a sense of seamless unity between her self and her environment. Feeling herself flow into the world around her is a joyful reward that richly compensates for forfeiting every accoutrement of civilization.
Anyone expecting to see them giggling merrily over tropical drinks in a valley of palm trees and friendly monkeys is in for a rude shock. This is an honest film. Our little self-styled cult of postmodern zealots knows the price of following the inner path and they have prepared themselves to pay it fully. We do see their valley though we may not readily recognize it as paradise. The Valley obscured by clouds is the ultimate parallel symbol in this film of symbols: it is the undiscovered depths of ones being, and an enabling realm of detachment totally cut off from self-alienating civilizations. La Vallee marks a path by which one aspires to universal harmony through unfettered spiritual freedom.
Schroeder uses varying combinations of sound and picture as an expressive tool. As the story progresses, he steadily diminishes emphasis on words while increasing the importance of images. Conversations in rather bland settings dominate the first part of the film (excepting some rapt moments under the seductive spell of magic feathers). Gradually, visual elements gain prominence. The final scene is in the style of silent film, with only sparse dialogue inserted like a few lines of printed text in a Chaplin movie. Our experience of this shift from word-biased content to image-biased content is also Viviane's experience as she gradually reaches into parts of herself that are beyond words. This structural analogy lets us join her inner transformation through our eyes and ears, thus making the abstract seem real. It also unifies style and substance in a way that contributes handsomely to the film's focus and intensity. Every aspect of this film was created solely by movie professionals. La Vallee is an impressive example of the unique potential of their craft.
Those who would turn to this film mostly to hear Pink Floyd's music should buy the CD instead. Three years later Pink Floyd released Wish You Were Here which has a similar theme. If you appreciate Wish You Were Here, you will likely enjoy this innovative, thoroughly crafted film.
Movie Review: PINK FLOYD MUSIC IN IT !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
ok guys ,,maybe you're not sure yet if it's worth the money to buy this title,,,but me // i'm definitely are going for this one ! ,,i've been waiting for this title on DVD for sooo long time , the reason is simply the score . if you are a Pink Floyd fan,, then you know that already,,,GET IT !!!!!!
Movie Review: La Vallee (aka "The Valley Obscured By Clouds")
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent CD and packaging. I was looking all over for this CD, and Amazon were the only ones who sold it, and for a fantastic price too. I'm very pleased!Movie Review: Missing Scenes?
Summary: 4 Stars
Great movie.
Poor DVD.
Watching this movie, you really want to hear a director commentary or an interview or something discussing the motivations and the techniques behind this movie.
What's more (no pun intended), scenes have been delted. I'm not saying that I remember scenes from drug fogged days when I might have seen this film in an art house someplace, I'm saying that there is a still on the back of the DVD from a scene that does not appear in the film itself.
But these Frustrations aside, La Vallee is a beautiful film capturing a truly fantastic jounrey that you are forced to believe the filmmakers must have actually ventured through to get the film that you are watching.
The Tribal people in the film are the real deal. And when a tribal elder calls out at a ceremony that he is proud to host these white visitors, you get the impression that he's talking about the film makers themselves, not the characters in the movie. But it hardly matters.
The story is one that could have only been put on film in the 70's and it is truly a beautiful concept for a story.
Schroeder was inspired by a moment in the film more when a character discusses that the human brain is largely uncharted and unknown, but in those uncharted areas lie the keys to humanity.
Similarly New Guineau was unknown and unexplored... and so a group of intrepid hippies attempts to discover paradise beneath the clouds that obscure it from plain sight.
It's a not so subtle metaphor for the spiritual journey on which his main character, Vivian is embarking... and that's not a knock. Vivian is a character who is well aware of her subtext and even of the metaphorical significance of her physical journey as it relates to her emotional journey.
There is some clunky dialogue and an unsettlingly abrupt ending leaves one wanting more (no pun intended).
The Floyd soundtrack lives on as one of Pink Floyd's best "pop" records, but it is sadly underutilized in this film.
Normally these three faults would be a problem, but it's so enjoyable to see a film like this, it hardly matters.
Enjoy the journey.
Movie Review: Obscured By Clouds?!
Summary: 4 Stars
Last year I set out to get my hands on the film, "More" (another Barbet Schoeder film) because the CD was great. Then I came across my very old CD "Obscured By Clouds". So wouldn't you know, I just had to get a copy of "La Vallee" despite, the not-so-great reviews."La Vallee", in my view, is better then "More", and certainly not as dismal. A rich diplomats wife, Vivian played by Bulle Ogier, is a restless "closet" hell raiser, who happens to have money to play with. She goes in search of a rare birds exotic and very beautiful feathers, and very illegal too. She comes across a group of hippies also looking for "a better way" but they will not sell her the feathers, but they do invite her to join their little expetition to "The Valley". However, Vivian is warned that they may not come back... Together they meet many different tribesman, mudmen, birdmen..you get the point. They also don't seem to give a damn about commiting adultry... After a long journey into the rain forest, they all get discouraged, tired, and hungry. One man says, if you listen towards the end of the film, "Ya know, we're never going to make it there." The other man replies, "we must keep going." Now, you never actually see this valley, but right at the end of the film, Vivan says while pointing, "There it is, I see it." -Fin- Yeah, and we never really know if they are all just delirious or high, or really there... This is a nice film, a rather boring and dry during the last hour or so; excellent score by Pink Floyd - which is the only reason I honestly purchased this-filmed beautifully in a rainforest of New Guinea. BUT, WHERE'S THE VALLEY?!