Rating: 
Summary: Pink Floyd snorefest....
Review: ...coming after the brilliant MEDDLE, this album posed a problem for Floyd... they were tired of being a Euro "Cult" band in the US, and needed to start racking up sales-after all 'the '60's' were over with. So it came to pass that OBSCURED BY CLOUDS would be the last 'honest' Floyd LP, though because of the constraints placed on them for an OST, I find it to be a rather lackluster album...but it started their slide from artistic purity to commercial $uccess-yes im talking about every post-pubescent boys wet dream, finally radio friendly to corporate owned FM stations-and still on the charts after 30 years, the mediocre, but trillion-selling DARK SIDE OF THE MOON...(just because it sells tonnes dont mean its any good) Oh... the film was OK...
Rating:
Summary: TRIPPY
Review: I first saw LA VALLEE over two decades ago and was haunted by the exotic images and Pink Floyd's score. Eventually, I molded a memory that in fact was quite different from the actual film. In hindsight, it wouldn't surprise me if that was director Barbet Schroeder's intent. Certainly the cinematography by Nestor Almendros serves that purpose. This meandering, mystical and somewhat pretentious hippie trek into the wilds of Borneo to find rare bird feathers is meant to be a journey of self-discovery -- a cinematic acid trip that may or may not have actual meaning. Oddly, in the movie, the "Valley Obscured by Clouds" (the film's full title) is never reached, but only seen in the distance at fade out. Pink Floyd's music and the exotic images make it worth the trek. But beware of seeing this in an altered state hoping to improve the quality of the trip.
Rating:
Summary: TRIPPY
Review: I first saw LA VALLEE over two decades ago and was haunted by the exotic images and Pink Floyd's score. Eventually, I molded a memory that in fact was quite different from the actual film. In hindsight, it wouldn't surprise me if that was director Barbet Schroeder's intent. Certainly the cinematography by Nestor Almendros serves that purpose. This meandering, mystical and somewhat pretentious hippie trek into the wilds of Borneo to find rare bird feathers is meant to be a journey of self-discovery -- a cinematic acid trip that may or may not have actual meaning. Oddly, in the movie, the "Valley Obscured by Clouds" (the film's full title) is never reached, but only seen in the distance at fade out. Pink Floyd's music and the exotic images make it worth the trek. But beware of seeing this in an altered state hoping to improve the quality of the trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Remembrance on DVD
Review: I saw THE VALLEY (Obscured By Clouds) in a theater in the 70s, though probably not on its first-run engagement. What I remember is the imagry, not the music (in hindsight I'm startled Pink Floyd supplied the mostly subtle score), and an awe for the film and an appreciation for the night on walking out of the theater. I remember the ad campaign, but it was a word-of-mouth hit -- "You HAVE to see this movie!" Much of the content is dated to its times, but a surprising portion is not. Remember, too, that the term "hippie" was itself getting dated in 1972, the pursuit of personal pleasures rising, as one bit of dialogue touches on. The DVD transfer is imperfect, but artifacts are not obtrusive. Some of the editing is abrupt, again not detracting from the whole. The film is largely in French with some English and native New Guinean; English subtitles are available, but only accessible by pressing the Subtitles button on the player or remote. As with most art-house films, THE VALLEY is aimed at an adult audience. Contained are full-frontal nudity (both genders), sex, and the frank killing and slaughter of three pigs, as well as themes of sensuality, monogamy, societal rigidity, and natural mood-altering substances.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing Video & Music
Review: If there is a reason to buy this video, but you don't know what kind film it is: The music is made by Pink Floyd, see there album "Obscured by Clouds" (one of the best PF album, after The Wall, WYWH en DSOTM)
Rating:
Summary: Obscured By Clouds?!
Review: 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?!
Rating:
Summary: Obscured By Clouds?!
Review: 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?!
Rating:
Summary: Gald to have finally seen it
Review: My main interest for this DVD was the music of Pink Floyd.
There are several films that have music by them which are hard to get in Europe (VHS was available from the US, but always in the wrong format for European video recorders).
The film itself has wonderful shots of the impressive nature of New Guinea but the story line isn't all that great. Dated is what comes to mind.
The transfer to DVD even has a visible problem after 15 minutes or so into the film (there is a warning about this on the DVD box) which has caused synchronisation problems.
All in all I'm glad to have finally seen this film now, although the soundtrack CD of course is a better representation of the Pink Floyd film score.
Now let's hope 'More" and 'Zabriskie Point' also appear on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: PINK FLOYD MUSIC IN IT !!!
Review: 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 !!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: the mountains and the valley beyond
Review: Opening scene: Vivian, a diplomats wife, is browsing through the artifacts offered for sale in a grass hut in New Guinea. Vivian is seeking some rare feathers that fetch huge sums at Parisian Boutiques. She is a socialite and yet she is also very comfortable in the very earthy surroundings she finds herself in while her husband is away on business. At first hers seems only a casual curiousity but then in walks a tall blonde hippie stranger who has just returned from the interior with a cache of rare feathers -- after that it is not only feathers she is interested in but the tall blonde stranger as well. Vivian catches a ride with the stranger and accompanies him back to his camp site. As soon as the two enter the tent they see a couple laying naked together. Vivian is surprised and yet also turned on by these very relaxed living conditions. The hippies live very close to the earth and they want to get even closer. In this very sensually open atmosphere the blonde stranger shows Vivian where they intend to go -- it is a place which has no name because it has never been charted as it is invisible from the sky as it is perpetually obscured by clouds. To the hippies this last unmarked place represents a last promise of paradise. Vivian is skeptical of such notions but she cannot resist the heady atmosphere of dreaminess and sensual freedom that this group represents to her and so she decides to leave her socialite existence for awhile and accompany them to La Vallee. The story is very simple and Barbet Schroeder's style is almost documentary simple -- Schroeder produced some of the early new wave films but his own films are nothing like those early 1960's films. More and La Vallee do not draw attention to the director as the new wave films did, Schroeders films concentrate on the vagaries of character and what different experiences feels like. The Pink Floyd soundtrack does more than the dialogue in giving us access to what these characters are going through. Though they are united in their search for paradise, each character is also on a very private journey and the music accents both the shared and private aspects of this cross country quest. One of the most memorable sequences is when the group spends the day with several tribes of New Guinea bushmen who have gathered to recognize their ancestors. Two of the hippies dress in tribal attire and paint themselves and dance along with the tribesman but two do not. Vivian herself does not adorn herself but merely watches the goings-on from a comfortable distance like a journalist while the tall blonde stranger feels a deep depression that he unlike the tribesman will never feel at one with nature. At another point Vivian too will attempt to merge with nature with the help of a hallucinogen but it is only a momentary union. And so the film is dreamy and yet also it is a kind of lament that certain dreams will never be more than dreams. Along with the subtle but perfect mood music by Pink Floyd the cinematography is absolutely exquisite -- New Guinea has never looked so good. I like both More and La Vallee equally well. And yes Michelangelo Antonio's Zabriskie Point is also very good and also features Pink Floyd as well as the Grateful Dead. I think Barbet Schroeder's films are much more organic though and so more pleasing to the instincts than Antonioni's film. Antonioni is very intellectual and even when he gets organic he arrives there by intellectual routes. Herzogs Aguirre is excellent and it is similar in that it is also a search for a mythic paradise but its vision of nature and man is much harsher. Theres a lyric magic in Barbet Schroeders films that simply does not exist anywhere else.
|
