''La Vallée'', also known as ''Obscured by Clouds'', is a 1972

French film The cinema of France comprises the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe, with prima ...

written and directed by

Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors of the French New Wave such as Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohm ...

. The film stars Bulle Ogier as Viviane, a woman who goes on a strange and accidental voyage of self-discovery through the

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

bush.

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

recorded an album, ''

Obscured by Clouds ''Obscured by Clouds'' is the seventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 2 June 1972 by Harvest and Capitol Records. It serves as the soundtrack for the French film '' La Vallée'', by Barbet Schroeder. ...

'', as the soundtrack to the film. After recording had finished, the band fell out with the film company, prompting them to release the soundtrack album as ''Obscured by Clouds'', rather than ''La Vallée''. In response, the film was retitled ''La Vallée (Obscured by Clouds)'' on its release. The actress credit "Monique Giraudy" is actually an alias of Miquette Giraudy, at the time a film editor and, later on, vocalist and synthesizer player with the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

with her partner

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

; they later formed the electronic group System 7.

Plot

Viviane (Ogier), the wife of the French

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, joins a group of explorers in search of a mysterious hidden valley in the bush of

, where she hopes to find the feathers of an extremely rare exotic bird. Along the way through the dense jungles of Papua New Guinea and on the peak of Mount Giluwe, she and the small group of explorers make contact with a native tribe called the "Mapuga", portrayed as one of the most isolated groups of human beings on earth, who inspire them to explore their own humanity, unfettered by their own subjective ideas of "civilization". The search becomes a search for a paradise said to exist within a valley marked as "obscured by cloud" on the only map of the area available dated as surveyed in 1969.

Cast

* Bulle Ogier as Viviane *

Jean-Pierre Kalfon Jean-Pierre Kalfon (born 30 October 1938) is a French actor and singer. Selected filmography External links * 1938 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors Male actors from Paris French male stage a ...

as Gaëtan * Valérie Lagrange as Hermine * Michael Gothard as Olivier * Jérôme Beauvarlet as Yann * Miquette Giraudy (credited as ''Monique'' Giraudy) as Monique * Thomas Binns Associate Producer and actor (as foul mouthed Australian) *The Mapuga tribe and its Chiefs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallee, La 1972 drama films 1972 films 1972 independent films French adventure drama films French avant-garde and experimental films French independent films 1970s French-language films Films directed by Barbet Schroeder Films set in Papua New Guinea Films shot in Papua New Guinea Films with screenplays by Paul Gégauff 1970s French films Films scored by Pink Floyd Les Films du Losange films