In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I can't recall the circumstances under which I saw this in the 70s but I remember being impressed although warning others that it was a bit slow and with murky visuals but a great Pink Floyd score. Memory eh! This moves well with interesting situations and encounters with natives and always looking fantastic, on my Blu-ray anyway. The thing is, where is the Pink Floyd score!? It really is barely noticeable until the end credits and I understand there was some dispute as to how their music had or had not been used and that that is why they called the soundtrack album, Obscured by Clouds and not, The Valley. Film boys got wise though and added that title to their own. Clever. Seen today the film is not only a joy and a stunning picture of New Guinea and its inhabitants but an interesting look in microcosm at the rise and fall of the hippy movement. Surprisingly good dialogue and always brilliant cinematography make this an essential watch - for the adventurous.

Barbet Schroeder is in danger of becoming a legend in his own lifetime. From this rather beautiful hippie opus, to Single White Female and more recently, an episode of Mad Men, this is a man with no respect for boundaries. The main character in this 1971 film is Vivian (Bulle Ogier), a collector of rare feathers which she sells in a posh boutique. While on holiday in New Guinea she joins a hippie expedition, hoping to add more fluff to her collection. She's the wife of a diplomat, bourgeois, liberal and a 'sport' as she puts it. The primary aim of the trek is to locate a (possibly mythical) paradisaical valley way over yonder, kind of like Richard's pursuit of the perfect beach in the Alex Garland novel, but with a more metaphysical bent.It's the journey not the arrival that grabs and cameraman Nestor Almendros, whose credits include Malick's Days of Heaven, really comes to the fore as his images compensate for any narrative slack. Eventually the group encounter the isolated but photogenic Magupa tribe, just about to start an incredible festival - cue more stunning images. That's about as dramatic as it gets - there's no manufactured events, just the group interacting with the natives and each other. For Vivian the journey becomes a voyage of self-discovery aided by some local hallucinogenics, though her newly-found freedom is tested both physically and philosophically by her lover as they approach their destination. By this time dialogue is sparse as the film slips into National Geographic mode. But it's Ogier who really keeps things together here, offering a riveting portrayal of a woman in transition. There's some discourse on the relative merits of the contrasting civilisations, and questions which throw doubt on the hippies belief in the superiority of the 'natural' way of life. Pink Floyd contribute the soundtrack (Obscured by Clouds) but its barely audible aside from the closing credits.

This film is little more than a 105 minute sleeping pill disguised as a psychedelic travelogue (of sorts). The plot (plot,you mean there is actually a plot?)concerns a fashion designer searching for bird feathers, when she happens upon a rag tag group of hippies looking for the valley obscured by clouds. Foolishly, she opts to follow along with them. The bulk of the remainder of the film is taken up by her ingesting copious amounts of drugs,having boring,pointless sex,more drugs,more pointless sex, oh yeah, and seeing some rather pretty scenery (filmed in New Guinea). Honestly,this film was so boring, I actually fell asleep until the end credits. Even Pink Floyd's majestic music doesn't make this exercise in cinematic narcolepsy any easier to swallow. Just buy the soundtrack CD by Pink Floyd, instead (you'll thank yourself). P.S. Barbet Schroeder,who directed this mess would do the film a big favor a few years later with the much better 'Barfly')

Set in the highlands of Papua New Guinea where a group of lovebirds go in search of the mystical Valley obscured by clouds. What it ends up being is a poorly made National Geographic tripe with a bit of flesh and feeble photography on the beautiful country.