The newly married wife of Lord von Ketten is determined to make her husband’s family abode, an inhospitable castle in Italy, into a home. When he sets off to battle, staying away for eleven long years, she carves out a life for herself—reading, singing, dancing, swimming, and riding in the forest.

Portuguese luminary Rita Azevedo Gomes’ sublime cinema of artifice comes to life through theatrical splendor and striking, painterly compositions in this 16th century tale of a woman’s torpor. Based on a Robert Musil novella, the film stars Fassbinder actress Ingrid Caven as a distant commentator.