Abraham's Valley

Ema is a striking young woman whose beauty draws attention wherever she goes. She marries Carlos de Paiva, a doctor and friend of her father, though she feels no love for him, and the couple settles in the valley of Abraham. Carlos cares for her deeply and chooses to sleep in a separate room so that his late returns home will not disturb her. Over time, Ema grows restless and unhappy within the marriage, and she takes a lover. Her taste for refinement and luxury, the illusions she holds about life, and the effect she has on men lead those around her to call her a small Bovary.

Manoel de Oliveira directed and wrote the screenplay for this 1993 Portuguese drama, which followed his 1988 film The Cannibals. It was produced by Paulo Branco and made through Gemini Films, Madragoa Filmes and Light Night, with co-production involvement from France and Switzerland. Leonor Silveira plays Ema, with Cécile Sanz de Alba appearing as the younger Ema; Luís Miguel Cintra plays Carlos, and Ruy de Carvalho, Luís Lima Barreto and Micheline Larpin are also among the 27 credited cast members. The film runs 204 minutes.

Ratings place the film in similar territory across sources. On IMDb it holds 7.3 from around 1,700 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 7.4 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 from seven reviews is close to the audience scores, suggesting broad agreement rather than a sharp divide between reviewers and viewers.