The Man Who Cried (2000)

Director:

Sally Potter

Writer:

Sally Potter (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 2000 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance | War

Plot:

A young refugee traveling from Russia to America in search of her lost father falls for a gypsy horseman.

Plot Keywords:

America | Gypsy | Village | Dancing | England

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Christina Ricci	...	Suzie
Oleg Yankovskiy	...	Father
Claudia Lander-Duke	...	Young Suzie
Danny Scheinmann	...	Man in Suit
Anna Tzelniker	...	Mother of Man in Suit
Barry Davis	...	Man in Village
Thom Osborn	...	Man in Village
Frank Chersky	...	Man in Village
Daniel Hart	...	Man in Village
Peter Majer	...	Man in Village
Hana Maria Pravda	...	Grandmother
Ayala Meir	...	Child
Abraham Hassan	...	Child
Lloyd Martin	...	Child
Uri Meir	...	Child

Also Known As:

The man who cried - Les larmes d'un homme (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality.

Runtime:

100 min | Italy:97 min (Venice Film Festival)

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English | Yiddish | Russian | French | Italian | Romany | Romanian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Duboicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | USA:R (certificate #37649) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (video rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Johnny Depp asked for golden teeth to be put into his mouth to give more realism to his character.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene where Suzie is following Cesare and his friends on her bike, they go through a passage where you can see the Eiffel Tower in the background and it is lit up. However, the lights were not added to the Tower until 1986.

Quotes:

Lola: It's dangerous to love.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Gloomy Sunday

Beautiful film about risk, change and difference

The only reason I did not rate this film a "10" was that the Christina Ricci character (Feygele/Suzie), who is supposed to be a superb singer in the era before microphones, was not dubbed by someone who can actually sing. (Ricci, gifted actress that she is, can't, and to a musician, that's a problem). Other than that, I loved this movie. Ricci and Depp, as impossible lovers who just happen to be members of the two peoples most persecuted by the Nazis (a Jew and a Gypsy), are both perfection in their roles. John Tuturro and Cate Blanchett, as (respectively) an Alpha-male Italian tenor enamored of Mussolini, and Suzie's fellow dancer/confidante seduced by the tenor and his Fascist tendencies, are such compelling characters that they almost needed their own separate movie. The cinematography is beautiful throughout, and the sense of history, of the sweep of time, is wonderfully evoked. Last but not least, the score of the film memorably weaves together an old Yiddish lullaby with "Je crois entendre encore," the great tenor aria from Bizet's "Pearl Fishers." Both melodies share the same rhythmic and harmonic skeleton, and the film score reveals and celebrates it. A wonderful musical reflection on the theme of the film in general. Wait until the end of the movie to see what I mean -- the music explains it all.