Manoel de OliveiraCast
Leonor SilveiraCredits
Written by: Agustina Bessa-Luís
Plot
Ema, a young woman in the Douro valley of Portugal, is married to a doctor, Carlos, and is a discontented wife. She takes lovers, and society accepts it. Manoel de Oliveira's 1993 film, known in Portuguese as Vale Abraão and based on Agustina Bessa-Luís's novel, is a Portuguese update of Madame Bovary, shot in a slow, painterly style.
Sinekatalog’s take
Manoel de Oliveira's long Portuguese drama updates Madame Bovary to the Douro valley, with Leonor Silveira as a discontented wife. Lush, formal and ironic, it is a slow, sensuous and richly composed masterwork.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.3 / 10 (1,780 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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