Love in the Time of Cholera (film)
Encyclopedia
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell
. Based on the novel of the same name
by Gabriel García Márquez
, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza (played by Giovanna Mezzogiorno
) and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem
) and Doctor Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt
) which spans 50 years, from 1880 to 1930.
Producer Scott Steindorff spent over three years courting Gabriel García Márquez for the rights to the book telling him that he was Florentino and would not give up until he got the rights.
It is the first filming of a García Márquez novel by a Hollywood studio, rather than by Latin American or Italian directors.
It is the first English language work of Academy Award-nominated Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro
, who portrays Tránsito Ariza.
in Colombia
. Some screen shots showed the Magdalena River
and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
mountain range.
, Scott Steindorff producer of the film, showed an unreleased final edition of the film to Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Mexico who at the end of the film is said to have exclaimed "Bravo!" with a smile on his face.
, 29% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 82 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.
Time
rated it "D" and described it as "a serious contender [for] the worst movie ever made from a great novel ... Skip the film; reread the book."
In her review in Entertainment Weekly
, Lisa Schwarzbaum also rated it "D" and called it a "turgid and lifeless movie adaptation", opining that "those who have read Gabriel García Márquez's glowing and sexy 1988 novel about one man's grand love for a woman who marries another are bound to be peevishly disappointed ... those who haven't read the book will now never understand the ardor of those who have — at least not based on all the hammy traipsing and coupling and scene-hopping thrown together here."
In the Los Angeles Times
, Carina Chocano stated, "the novel has made it to the screen in the form of a plodding, tone-deaf, overripe, overheated Oscar-baiting telenovela
... Doubtless it's an enormously daunting task to adapt a book at once so sweeping and internal, so swooningly romantic and philosophical, but it takes a lighter touch and a more expansive view than Newell and Harwood seem to bring."
A song written for the film by Shakira
was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Song.
Mike Newell (director)
Michael Cormac "Mike" Newell is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, Newell became the third most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind Christopher Nolan...
. Based on the novel of the same name
Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez first published in the Spanish language during 1985. Alfred A. Knopf published the English translation during 1988...
by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza (played by Giovanna Mezzogiorno
Giovanna Mezzogiorno
Giovanna Mezzogiorno is an Italian theatre and film actress.Giovanna Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, November 9, 1974, daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set, conscious about acting. At first she wanted to become a ballerina and she...
) and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
) and Doctor Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
) which spans 50 years, from 1880 to 1930.
Producer Scott Steindorff spent over three years courting Gabriel García Márquez for the rights to the book telling him that he was Florentino and would not give up until he got the rights.
It is the first filming of a García Márquez novel by a Hollywood studio, rather than by Latin American or Italian directors.
It is the first English language work of Academy Award-nominated Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro
Fernanda Montenegro
Fernanda Montenegro is a Brazilian stage, television and film actress, mostly recognized for her leading role in Central Station, which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated.She is commonly revered as one of Brazil's finest...
, who portrays Tránsito Ariza.
Film locations
Much of the film takes place in the historic, walled city of CartagenaCartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Some screen shots showed the Magdalena River
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...
and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range apart from the Andes chain that runs through Colombia. Reaching an altitude of 5,700 metres above sea level just 42 km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is the world's highest coastal range...
mountain range.
Plot
In late 19th century Cartagena, a river port in Colombia, Florentino Ariza falls in love at first sight with Fermina Daza. They secretly correspond and she eventually agrees to marry but her father discovers their relationship and sends her to distant relatives (mainly her grandmother and niece). When she returns some years later, Fermina agrees to marry Dr. Juvenal Urbino, her father's choice. Their fifty year marriage is outwardly loving, but inwardly marred by darker emotions. Fermina's marriage devastates Florentino, who vows to remain a virgin, but his self-denial is thwarted by a tryst. To help him get over Fermina, his mother throws a willing widow into his bed and he discovers that sex is a very good pain reliever which he replaces with the opium that he had habitually smoked. He begins to record and describe each of his sexual encounters, beginning with the widow, and eventually compiling over 600 entries. A lowly clerk, he plods resolutely over many years to approach the wealth and social standing of Dr. Urbino. When the now-elderly doctor dies suddenly, Florentino immediately and impertinently renews courting Fermina.Cast
- Javier BardemJavier BardemJavier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
as Florentino Ariza - Giovanna MezzogiornoGiovanna MezzogiornoGiovanna Mezzogiorno is an Italian theatre and film actress.Giovanna Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, November 9, 1974, daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set, conscious about acting. At first she wanted to become a ballerina and she...
as Fermina Daza - Benjamin BrattBenjamin BrattBenjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
as Dr. Juvenal Urbino - John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as Lorenzo Daza - Fernanda MontenegroFernanda MontenegroFernanda Montenegro is a Brazilian stage, television and film actress, mostly recognized for her leading role in Central Station, which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated.She is commonly revered as one of Brazil's finest...
as Tránsito Ariza - Catalina Sandino MorenoCatalina Sandino MorenoCatalina Sandino Moreno is a Colombian actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Maria Full of Grace .-Life and career:...
as Hildebranda Sanchez - Alicia BorracheroAlicia BorracheroAlicia Borrachero Bonilla is a Spanish actress. She is popular thanks to her roles on TV, but she has also taken part in theatre plays and movies.She studied drama at Nazareth College, and in the drama training atelier in Madrid...
as Escolástica - Liev SchreiberLiev SchreiberIsaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
as Lotario Thurgot - Laura HarringLaura HarringLaura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
as Sara Noriega - Hector ElizondoHector ElizondoHéctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
as Don Leo - Ana Claudia TalancónAna Claudia TalancónAna Claudia Talancón is a Mexican actress and model. She first started acting in her home town, Cancún, Quintana Roo.- Early life :...
as Olimpia Zuleta - Angie CepedaAngie CepedaAngélica María Cepeda Jiménez , professionally known as Angie Cepeda, is a Colombian actress. The younger sister of actress Lorna Paz, she is probably the best known for her roles in telenovela Pobre Diabla and films Captain Pantoja and the Special Services and Love in the Time of Cholera.- Early...
as The Widow Nazareth - Patricia CastañedaPatricia CastanedaPatricia Castañeda is a Colombian actress. Patricia was born in the town of Cali, Colombia. While in school, Castañeda was asked to audition for a children's show called La Brújula Mágica she got the part and hosted the show for over 4 years and quit the studies in architecture...
as Grand Lady 4 - Unax UgaldeUnax UgaldeUnax Ugalde Gutiérrez is a Spanish actor born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Basque Country.-Biography:Unax Ugalde, son of a worker at the Altos Hornos and a housewife, was born in 1978 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. While, as a student, he ambitioned to become a marine scientist, started taking classes...
as Young Florentino - Marcela Mar as America Vicuña
- Paola TurbayPaola TurbayPaola Turbay Gómez is a Colombian-American actress of Lebanese descent, model, and television presenter.Turbay represented Bogotá in the Miss Colombia beauty pageant, which she won in 1991...
as Mystery Woman 2
Gabriel García Marquez
According to an interview by Colombian magazine Revista SemanaRevista Semana
Semana or Revista Semana is a Colombian-based weekly magazine. It was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo , but was shut down after a controversial cover depicting Cuban leader Fidel Castro.In 1983, journalist Felipe López Caballero re-founded the magazine...
, Scott Steindorff producer of the film, showed an unreleased final edition of the film to Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Mexico who at the end of the film is said to have exclaimed "Bravo!" with a smile on his face.
Critical response
The film received negative to mixed reviews from critics. As of November 17, 2007 on the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 29% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 82 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
rated it "D" and described it as "a serious contender [for] the worst movie ever made from a great novel ... Skip the film; reread the book."
In her review in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Lisa Schwarzbaum also rated it "D" and called it a "turgid and lifeless movie adaptation", opining that "those who have read Gabriel García Márquez's glowing and sexy 1988 novel about one man's grand love for a woman who marries another are bound to be peevishly disappointed ... those who haven't read the book will now never understand the ardor of those who have — at least not based on all the hammy traipsing and coupling and scene-hopping thrown together here."
In the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Carina Chocano stated, "the novel has made it to the screen in the form of a plodding, tone-deaf, overripe, overheated Oscar-baiting telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
... Doubtless it's an enormously daunting task to adapt a book at once so sweeping and internal, so swooningly romantic and philosophical, but it takes a lighter touch and a more expansive view than Newell and Harwood seem to bring."
A song written for the film by Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Song.