Relato de un cierto oriente

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Note of intent

My decision to bring Milton Hatoum’s book to a wider audience through a film is mostly motivated by the issues raised in there. I want to reflect about otherness by depicting the encounter between different characters, different cultures, living in a peculiar place: the Amazon. The plot takes place in Manaus, a city marked by cross cultural exchange, diversity of customs, languages, and the coexistence of individuals of different nationalities. All of the inhabitants of Manaus exercise their ability to get along with alien people. An inner look at themselves allows to understand the differences with others. The other issue raised in the story is tolerance. This issue remains in the subtext of the entire movie, as Emily manages to build a life-long interreligious marriage in the middle of the Amazon.

Synopsis

Lebanon, 1950. Emilie and her brother Emir abandon the arid mountains of their homeland and head for the Brazilian Amazon region in search of better days. They take with them their sole possession and heirloom – a large wooden grandfather clock in which Emilie hides her secrets. They make their way to the port city of Trieste where they wait for a ship leaving for Brazil. While there, Emir falls in love with a local prostitute and doesn’t want to continue, but Emilie manages to convince him otherwise. The brother and sister disembark in cosmopolitan Manaus –  a city known for the pacific cohabitation of individuals from all nationalities and creeds. It is in this effervescent milieu that Emilie defies the catholic traditions of the Lebanese community and falls in love with Abbas, a Muslim storeowner with whom she settles down and builds a new family. The movie relates the saga of this family, its trials and tribulations, hopes, joys, tragedies and disillusions as seen revolving around Emilie: an enigmatic woman who believed love was the only weapon she had in which to overcome cultural differences.