Plot
Florentino, rejected by the beautiful Fermina at a young age, devotes much of his adult life to carnal affairs as a desperate attempt to heal his broken heart.
Release Year: 2007
Rating: 6.2/10 (11,260 voted)
Critic's Score: 43/100
Director:
Mike Newell
Stars: Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt
Storyline In Colombia just after the Great War, an old man falls from a ladder; dying, he professes great love for his wife. After the funeral, a man calls on the widow - she dismisses him angrily. Flash back more than 50 years to the day Florentino Ariza, a telegraph boy, falls in love with Fermina Daza, the daughter of a mule trader. Ariza is persistent, writing her constantly, serenading, speaking poetically of love. Her father tries to keep them apart, and then, one day, she sees this love as an illusion. She's soon married to Urbino, a cultured physician, and for years, Ariza carries a torch, finding solace in the arms of women, loving none. After Urbino's fall, are Ariza's hopes delusional?
Writers: Ronald Harwood, Gabriel García Márquez
Cast: Benjamin Bratt
-
Dr. Juvenal Urbino
Gina Bernard Forbes
-
Digna Pardo
Giovanna Mezzogiorno
-
Fermina Urbino
Javier Bardem
-
Florentino Ariza
Marcela Gardeazabal
-
America Vicuña
(as Marcela Mar)
Juan Ángel
-
Marco Aurelio - 40's
Liliana Gonzalez
-
Marco Aurelio's Wife
(as Liliana Alvarez Gonzalez)
Catalina Botero
-
Ofelia Urbino - 40's
Miguel Angel Pazos Galindo
-
Ofelia's Husband
Maria Cecilia Herrera
-
Urbino's Sweet Wife
Luis Fernando Hoyos
-
Urbino Urbino
Carlos Duplat
-
Mourner
Francisco Raul Linero
-
Mourner
Unax Ugalde
-
Florentino - Teen
Liev Schreiber
-
Lotario Thugut
Opening Weekend: $1,924,860
(USA)
(18 November 2007)
(852 Screens)
Gross: $31,336,389
(Worldwide)
(5 April 2009)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Producer Scott Steindorff spent over 3 years courting Gabriel García Márquez for the rights to the book telling him that he was Florentino and wouldn't give up until he got the rights.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
When Dr. Juvenal Urbino visits Florentino Ariza he asks him what kind of music Ariza likes. "The music of Carlos Gardel", Ariza answers. The time of the action is somewhere between 1890 and 1895. Gardel was born between (the date is not confirmed) 1883 and 1897. So, he was just a kid at that time, and he couldn't be known at all as the famous singer that died in a plane crash in Medellin (Colombia) in 1935, at the age of 48 or 52.
Quotes: Florentino Ariza:
Shoot me. There is no greater glory than to die for love.
User Review
Amazing book. Wonderful story. Great film.
Rating: 9/10
Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my top five favorite books of all
time. I was so excited when I heard it was being made into a movie. I'm
one of those who approve of books being made into films, as long as
they reasonably stick to the novel, because they bring a new
perspective and life to the story.
However, I had read nothing but horrible things about this film before
I went to see it. Now that I have, all I can say to all those who had
only negative things to say is: HAVE YOU READ THE BOOK? "Love in the
Time of Cholera" retains the same authenticity and tone on the screen
as it did on the page. Yes, the characters are strange people, but that
is what makes them memorable; we see parts of ourselves in them and
parts of their culture that molded them into who they were. Bardem's
Florentino is being called a "creepy" "stalker", but his actions in the
novel are no different then those on the screen and reflect the passion
and desperation of the world he lives in. Fermina is being called
"cold" and "unlikable", but in the novel that's what she is; a haughty,
proud woman who keeps her heart buried.
I know the number of bad reviews out there will undoubtedly outnumber
the good ones. I don't care. I urge you to go see this film. The novel
it follows is a classic and is one of the greatest love stories of all
time. Its characters are not perfect, they are human. The scenery,
costumes, and overall atmosphere of the film are authentic and moving.
But at the heart of the images, there is a love story that is timeless,
character traits that hit close to home, and a happy ending that it
seems few of us find.
This is why we watch movies. It's not the entertainment, the
celebrities, or the technological feats. It is the stories that make us
think, that cause us to question the world we live in. We all didn't
watch "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the comedy or memorable performances
(though they were). We watched it for the time it portrayed, the people
it involved, and the message that made us ponder what our world was,
is, and is going to be.
"Love in the Time of Cholera" is a movie about us. The faults,
successes, failures, and dreams we all have. It is worth anyone's time
to see it at least once.
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