The Valley (1972)
BDRip 720p | MKV | 1280 x 544 | x264 @ 5475 Kbps | 105 min | 4,36 Gb
Audio: Français AC3 2.0 @ 448 Kbps | Subs: English, Română
Genre: Drama
BDRip 720p | MKV | 1280 x 544 | x264 @ 5475 Kbps | 105 min | 4,36 Gb
Audio: Français AC3 2.0 @ 448 Kbps | Subs: English, Română
Genre: Drama
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Stars: Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Michael Gothard
Viviane, a French Consul's wife, is in New Guinea to find exotic feathers for export to Paris. She encounters four European travelers who are en route to "La Vallée": The Valley, high in the Guinean mountains, is shown on maps as 'Obscured by Clouds' and is beyond their previous experiences. Viviane joins their trek to find rare feathers and soon becomes entwined in their journey. Their extended stay with the Mapuga tribe brings a denouement between western and indigenous values before their final quest toward the 'Valley of the Gods'.
IMDB
Without giving too much away, this is an intellectual road trip movie with a documentary atmosphere in many scenes. It is somewhat muddled for the first 15 minutes, but then you can really get into it (if you're ever going to). It relies on atmosphere more than plot, but it did have a clear meaning to me. Overall it's fairly sobering and I can't say it will leave you happy.
I didn't see this as a "hippie" film, rather a commentary on the human condition. One oddity was the interspersing of French subtitled dialog with segments of non-dubbed English. The scenery was very lush and I don't think a second of the film was shot in a studio.
People who didn't like this are probably in the short-attention-span crowd. I don't think this film has anything to do with being a Floyd fan. The music is mostly in the background and doesn't quite fit what you're watching anyway. Any number of low-key instrumental soundtracks may have made more sense. It really doesn't need music at all, except for the tribal chants. Only a few songs from the Floyd CD were apparent, but I know why they called the album "Obscured By Clouds."
(click to enlarge)
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