Fina Torres' body of work has revolved around her own identity as a Venezuelan artist living and working in France, with a heavy European influence, but with a keen eye for things that are obviously very familiar to her from her native land.
Oriana is a rare film that works slowly on the viewer until he gets to know the terrible things that happened in the hacienda once owned by wealthy people, but now is in disarray.
Maria, as a woman, Oriana's niece, goes back to inspect the property, as she and her French husband want to dispose of it, the sooner, the better. But something happens to Maria, for whom the house has a magic spell as she steps into the dusty and unkempt main house of the hacienda, where once, she has spent summer vacations.
Maria, we see, has an inquisitive mind. In her mind, her aunt Oriana is an enigma. We get to know the past through the eyes of Maria, as a young girl, who is the one that discovers things that are safely hidden in her aunt's closet. This is a story seen through three generations of this family, although basically the present time bears nothing on the story, or the tragedy that we get to realize happened years ago in the hacienda. We also discover why Oriana decided to stay behind, by herself, playing her piano and living in the past by herself.
Basically, young Maria, played by Daniela Silverio, is the center of the story. As Oriana, the mysterious aunt, Doris Wells brings a dignity and a remoteness unique to the drama.
Even though the film moves at a very slow pace, it's quite enjoyable because of the director's fine tuning behind the camera.
