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Some novels, such as "Love in the Time of Cholera", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, should be allowed to stay in the written page. As has been the case with other attempts to capture the author's work for the screen, most, alas, have ended in failure. One can question the people behind this project about what they had in mind. A work of this magnitude certainly deserved better than this bland account by Ronald Harwood, a man that has done better, and by the director, Mike Newell. Missing is the poetry, and magic, of the book and most of what is not being shown on the screen. Evidently, as usually is the case with these ambitious projects, there are a lot of things that get in the way. First, and foremost, trying to bring together such a large, mostly Spanish speaking cast to play the various characters, needs a surer hand and clear vision of how to translate this novel to cinematic terms and still bring out the essence of the story. This work, supposedly has been read by more than sixty million readers, so to make a mediocre adaptation of it, should have been enough to have left it alone. The basic problem lies with the way Florentino Ariza has been conceived. As played by Mr. Bardem, in one of his less effective performances in a while, it robs the character his voice and the way one conceived it in one's mind. We are constantly reminded this Florentino is Javier Bardem, at all times, and not the man who longingly aches for Fermina most of his life. We are watching the actor going through some dialog, period. On the other hand, Mr. Bardem is only an actor, and the reading he gives should have been guided better. Just watch him under the Coen brothers' clear vision in "No Country for Old Men". The Fermina of Giovanna Mezzogiorno is also a problem in our all overall enjoyment of the picture. An excellent actress, she is bogged down by a script that doesn't add much to her talent. John Leguizamo is totally miscast as Fermina's father, as is Fernanda Montenegro, a great actress who doesn't fare well at all here. The cinematography by Alfonso Beato is about one of the the best things in the film. Alfonso Beato's music doesn't add much drama to the whole picture either. For pure enjoyment pick up the original novel and have a great time with the magic world Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote, in one of his most memorable works....and it won the Nobel Prize.Read full review
I decided to buy this movie because a teacher had once said it had "greatly impressed her and touched her soul" and I was very eager to see what that was about. It starts out tolerably soppy, with a young man's unhealthy obsession with the comfortably wealthy daughter of a mule owner. They communicate via letters and she reciprocates his feelings and concedes to be his wife. That is, until her father gets wind of their plans and takes her far away for a few years. During this time, Fermina (the mule owner's daughter) grows out of her fancy for Florentino (the obsessed youth) and upon her return to his village, informs him that those feelings were nothing but an illusion. Florentino does not share her analysis of their relationship, and has kept himself "pure" for her. He is brokenhearted and is determined to win her back somehow. Meanwhile, Fermina becomes sick and Cholera is suspected, upon which a young attractive, but talented doctor is called in to see her. He falls in love with her upon introduction, and she is sufficiently impressed with him to marry him. Learning about Fermina's marriage is no real deterrent to Florentino, who decides to wait for her husband to die to have his one true love. During the next 50 some odd years, he beds hundreds of women, never giving any one of them his heart. The majority of the movie is of Florentino's conquests and sexual experiences, all in the name of his "healing time" for the loss of Fermina, who is at that point married to the much admired and successful doctor, and has a child to boot. Florentino keeps a journal of sexual encounters up until the day that the good doctor dies, leaving Fermina a widow. Before the poor woman can even rest after the funeral, Florentino renews his undying vow of love and devotion to her. She then throws him out of her house, but Florentino writes to her constantly and becomes her source of comfort and life at her advanced age. She finally agrees to allow him to call on her, and they end up taking a trip together, finally have sex, and sail off in the horizon. Hokay. Did not enjoy how soppy and unrealistic the whole plot was, and do not recommend paying 20 dollars for it, not even 10. If you can get it for a good deal like I did, and are curious, it's good for a soppy laugh or two.Read full review
Imagine falling in love with a girl as a teenager, a poor teenager in South America, and her dad (John Leguizamo) won't let you be with her. This guy (played by the assassain in No Country For Old Men)waits 51 years to finally be with his love! But, he finds that sex is the best way to deal with his pain in those 51 years, having hundreds of women. It's a good movie - for adults, not kids. Duh. But it is sad, funny, and very cool. Someone called it a "slow" movie. I disagree. It isn't Batman or The Matrix! It's a change from that genre for a while. I would compare it to...thinking..."A Lot Like Love," with Ashton Kutcher, meets "Don Juan" with Johnny Depp. Try it out. It's a good flick for guys, and it will make your g/f's cry too! Happy Viewing! clemsonpsych.Read full review
Gorgeously photographed and amazingly told, this 2007 movie sweeps you away to 1879 Cartegana, Colombia to tell the love story of Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem) and Fermina Daza (Giovanna Mettogorni). The story begins with the two basically as teenagers. Flo is the illegitimate son of a womanizer, but while he is working as a telegraph operator assistant he meets and woos Fermina, the daughter of the owner of mules. Her father won't have the relationship because Florentino is poor and thinks that his daughter deserves better. So he ships her to the country for several years. When Fermina returns, her father's influence causes her to reject Florentino. She tells him that their love was just an illusion. And when she becomes ill (not cholera), she is treated by Dr. Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt). He is so taken with her that he soon proposes, and her father agrees to the match. Florentino is very depressed when he hears about and sees the wedding of his true love. He eventually consoles himself with casual sex with many women. And Fermina does not have a golden life either: she has to deal with a mother-in-law Dona Blanca, who doesn't think that she is worthy of her son, and eventually a wayward husband. The movie begins with the death of an old Dr. Urbino. His grieving widow Fermina, also old, once again spurns the story's old hero, Florentino, who can barely wait to woo her again after what he quotes is 53 years, so many days and so many hours. It is then that their story begins and eventually moves past the flashback that finally rewards us to the conclusion of the movie. With wonderful Latin music by Shakira and gorgeous cinematography (I said it again), it is amazing that this movie was overlooked for any awards. It only received one Golden Globe nomination (for Original Song) and no Oscar nominations. You will also be treated on this DVD to a special feature that tells you how the movie was made, how they were begged by the president of Colombia to make it there, and how the music developed. Of real interest also is how they converted one riverboat into two to show how riverboats changed over the 50 year expanse of time. This movie is a real winner in my book. You will want to watch it more than once. And by the way, it is supposedly true to the book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that won a Nobel Prize for Literature.Read full review
I decided to buy the DVD of "Love in the Time of Cholera" when I heard that a movie had been made of one of my most favorite books after all the years since it was first published and hardly anyone could put the book down once you'd started it. My family had to wait for me to finish "just another chapter" before going out to dinner or my coming to sleep late at night! I was a little disappointed in the way the film opened up but I think that was because I had forgotten a lot of Gabriel Marquez's writing style. I've since bought and owned all the English translations of his novels and short stories but have not been able to actually finish his last book yet. I was pleased to read that he has started to write again. Having been too busy this past two years to take his last book out of the library, I've made a mental note to re-read the book and then watch the film again. barbararenee675Read full review