Customer Reviews

Oriana

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A beautiful Venezuelan production that reflex an era in the Venezuelan society. Every corner of the movie involves you in a mistery that needs to be discovered, to reveal a sin at the very end. The passion and the love that only can exist in the rooms of a lost old mansion of the Venezuelan forests. I enjoyed this jewel and very seductive movie very much.

Albeit difficult to follow, due in part to the series of disjointed flashbacks and confusing images, this is a beautifully told story of pain and betrayal set in an exotic and lush tropical setting. The plot line is simple: a woman, residing in France, inherits an old hacienda from her aunt on the Venezuelan coast in the early 70's, only to discover her aunt's illicit relationship, and subsequent seclusion, with her illegitimate half brother. Venezuelan society of the 1930's and 50's was extremely hypocritical and chauvinistic, a point exceedingly well portrayed in this film. The mise-en-scène and the photography are top notch. The acting is subdued and languid, almost somnolescent in its reverie of another era. To appreciate this film, one has to have an understanding of Latin society; its intolerance for female rôles outside the established "norm;" its many unspoken, rigid rules and its complete disregard for human nature. The contrast in this film, offered by the lushness of the landscape and the dryness of the interaction within the family, is its most salient attribute.

I saw this film over 15 years ago, and it still resonates in my memory.

For me, Oriana was enchanting, and I returned to the theater to see it 4 or more time, unusual for me.

Impressions of this film may be very different. This is a genre of mysteries of adolescence and discovery film, and for those with imagination who relish the leisurely unraveling of clues, this is a must see.

El feminismo de Fina Torres unido a la belleza de paisajes venezolanos en tiempos dificiles para el amor entre seres diferentes socialmente en una sociedad machista, donde por encima de todo prevalece el respeto infundido por años de educación, anulando los sentimientos humanos, los cuales, cuando son de buena madera prevalecen en el tiempo. Ganadora en Cannes, es algo irrepetible por mucho tiempo en Venezuela.

This is one of the most beautiful films of latin american cinema!

Twenty years is relatively a short space of time, but perhaps enough to reflect about the grandess of this pecualiar and immortal artwork.

The feminine universe in my birthplace literally loads the atmosphere. Venezuela astonishes you due its freahness, captivating greeness, the spectacular Avila Mountain of two and a half kilometers height is a remarkable proof about this statement. You look it and your feelings change. You can walk through this mountain every weekened and feel the Earth Call.

So the charm, beauty and powerful gaze of the woman has captivated and engaged the literary world. From Gallegos to Uslar Pietri, from Bonalde a great poet to Camejo ( the reknown poet employed in 21 grams), the ingenuity and strength of the Venezuelan woman has resisted so many combats. most of them painful.

Fina Torres rescued through this intimate portrait a simple story of hopeless, disencounters, lack of affection and loneliness of Oriana told superbly in two planes. Yesterday and today are finely shown without any drop of soap melodram, a very well made script and solid performance of Doris Wells one of the greatest actress ever born in this country.

Fina Torres told a very common story told so many times and lived at least by thousands unknown women around the world. But this sad portrait allowed to show with all the possible freshness and charming visual poetry some unforgettable aspects of our citizenship. But beware that episode goes far beyond the limits of a nation to remain as silent witeness of the injustice and cross eyed disfunction in ancient generations of unfinished and anonymus stories through the little history.

A Latin gem!

The pace of this movie is so slow it would, at times, seem to be a series of slides, with the sounds of the Venezuelan countryside as the most prominent feature in a lackluster soundtrack. The photography is beautiful, as are the lush and exotic locations. This is a story of a mature woman remembering her first love, as her niece is visiting with her. It is told in flashbacks. I really don't know if the story is confusing because of the script, or because silent scenes are so long you fall asleep in between them.