The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004)

Director:

Mary McGuckian

Writers:

Mary McGuckian
Thornton Wilder (novel)

Release Date:

22 December 2004 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Five Lives Bound By One Fate.

Plot:

In 1714 Peru, a friar is tried by the Inquisition for questioning God's intentions when five die in the collapse of an Andean rope bridge.

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | Peru | Rope Bridge | Friar | Inquisition

Awards:

1 win

Cast

F. Murray Abraham	...	Viceroy of Peru
Kathy Bates	...	The Marquesa
Gabriel Byrne	...	Brother Juniper
Geraldine Chaplin	...	The Abbess
Robert De Niro	...	Archbishop of Peru
Émilie Dequenne	...	Doña Clara
Adriana Domínguez	...	Pepita
Harvey Keitel	...	Uncle Pio
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Dona Clara's Husband
Pilar López de Ayala	...	Camila Villegas (La Perichola)
John Lynch	...	Captain Alvarado
Dominique Pinon	...	His Excellency's Fop
Mark Polish	...	Manuel
Michael Polish	...	Esteban
Jim Sheridan	...	The King of Spain
Javier Conde	...	Camila's Matador
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christopher de Andrés	...	Lacayo
Emilio Gavira
Alberto González
Nando Llera

Directed by
Mary McGuckian

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mary McGuckian
Thornton Wilder		novel

Produced by
Jeff Abberley	....	executive producer
Mark Albela	....	line producer
Elvira Bolz	....	co-producer
Michael Cowan	....	producer
Craig Darian	....	executive producer
Sixto García	....	assistant producer
Samuel Hadida	....	producer
Victor Hadida	....	executive producer
Peter James	....	executive producer
Howard G. Kazanjian	....	executive producer
Garrett McGuckian	....	producer
Mary McGuckian	....	producer
Denise O'Dell	....	producer
Jason Piette	....	co-producer
James Simpson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Javier Aguirresarobe

Film Editing by
Kant Pan

Casting by
Sharon Howard-Field

Production Design by
Gil Parrondo

Art Direction by
Sonia Aranzabal
Óscar Sempere		(art direction)

Costume Design by
Yvonne Blake

Makeup Department
Paula Cruz	....	assistant makeup artist
Montse Damas	....	daily makeup artist

Production Management
Chris Nixon	....	post-production supervisor
Daniel Vega	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charlie Lázaro	....	second assistant director
Carlos Santana	....	second second assistant director
Pedro Sopeña	....	first assistant director
René Villarreal	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Michel Doré	....	storyboard artist
Edu Glez	....	props
Scott Keery	....	property master
José Luis Moya	....	construction coordinator
Ramón Moya	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Jorge Adrados	....	sound assistant
Gordon Brown	....	adr editor
Colette Dahanne	....	assistant sound mixer
Mark DeSimone	....	adr mixer
Peter Glossop	....	production sound mixer
Erik Jordan	....	ProTools editor
Robin Knapp	....	assistant sound editor
Shaun Mills	....	boom operator
Michael Redfern	....	foley editor
Adrian Rhodes	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Welsh	....	dolby sound consultant
Ian Wilson	....	supervising sound editor
Mark Rose	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Emilio Ruiz del Río	....	model maker

Stunts
Guiomar Alonso	....	stunt performer
Jorge Huergo	....	stunts
Miguel Pedregosa	....	stunt coordinator
Manuel Valle	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Antonio Belón	....	second assistant camera
Kiko Garcia	....	still photographer
Jay Maidment	....	special still photographer
Pepe Martínez	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ana Cuerda	....	wardrobe assistant
Thomas Sjolander	....	embroidery
José Vico	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Steve Harrow	....	post-production consultant
Laurie McDowell	....	first assistant editor
Thomas Walters	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Don Gallacher	....	music supervisor
The London Oratory School Schola	....	musicians: boys choir
Graham Sutton	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Gonzalo Bouza	....	runner driver
Cayetano Chimeno	....	unit transport manager
Aitor Satrustegui	....	runner driver

Other crew
Stephanie Angel	....	script supervisor trainee
Mercedes Barbod	....	assistant location manager
Shirine Best	....	development assistant
María Cabello	....	production runner
Usha Chaman	....	assistant: Ms. McGuckian
Matt Curtis	....	title designer
Diana Dill	....	script supervisor
Cristina Ecija	....	production coordinator
José María González Sinde	....	location manager
José María González Sinde	....	location unit manager
Brendan Gunn	....	dialogue coach
Mel Hider	....	assistant: Mr. Cowan and Mr. Piette
Emily Kyriakides	....	assistant to producer: UK
Alex Marshall	....	head of business affairs
Alex Matcham	....	production controller
Ali Moshref	....	post-production accountant
Andrea Nelson	....	assistant: actor
Denis Pedregosa	....	business affairs: KanZaman
Saray Perez	....	cashier
Daisy Schwartz	....	assistant: Mr. De Niro
Ricardo Serrano	....	assistant location manager
Lucy Shuttleworth	....	development executive
Niall Trask	....	runner
Faye Villalba	....	production coordinator
Lara Voloshin	....	assistant to producer
Paloma Vázquez	....	production assistant
Salvador Yagüe	....	base camp manager
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond company representative (uncredited)
Melissa Milo	....	assistant: Mr. De Niro (uncredited)
Denis O'Sullivan	....	assistant: Mr. De Niro (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Tribeca Productions (presents)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (presents)
• Davis-Films
• Bridge
• Kanzaman
• Spice Factory
• Movision (as Movision Entertainment) (in association with)
• Scion Films (in association with)
• Pembridge Pictures

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Films (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Fine Line Features (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• New Line Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Imagem Filmes (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Quasar Films (2007) (Argentina) (TV)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL8)
• Senator International

Special Effects

• Cine Image Film Opticals (main and end titles)

Other Companies

• Gearbox Sound and Vision  additional ProTools systems supplied by
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• London Oratory School Schola, The  music performed by (as The London Oratory School Schola - boys' choir)
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some disturbing images and some sensuality

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK | Spain | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:13 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Hungary:14 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Brazil:10 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Málaga, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Tribeca Productions

Quotes:

Archbishop of Peru:[to the Abbess] Fortunately I count the cessationn of these meetings as one of the benefits of dying.

Movie Connections:

References La périchole, la chanteuse et le dictateur (2000) (TV)

Red Chalk and a Bowl of Snow

Greetings again from the darkness. Although I do understand why many grade the film so harshly, for a few reasons I did enjoy it. First, the cast is straight out a Woody Allen Movie. Stars include Robert Deniro, Kathy Bates, F Murray Abraham (all Oscar winners) and Harvey Keitel, Gabriel Byrne and Geraldine Chaplin. Second, relative newcomer Adriana Dominguez is a pleasure to watch as Pepita. Third, the challenge of following the story line and time line kept my brain working non-stop for two plus hours. Although the presentation is a bit convoluted, if a movie keeps me engaged for its entire duration, it has done something right.

The downside, other than the muddled script, was the lackluster performance of Deniro. Most of the time his scenes were straight out of Saturday Night Live - cue cards and all. Bates and Keitel, on the other hand, were mesmerizing.

Based of course on Thornton Wilder's 1929 novel (he also wrote "Our Town" and "Hello, Dolly!"), the film suffers from spotty direction by (relative unknown) Mary McGuckian. Visually the picture is terrific, but she obviously has no feel for story telling.

Flawed film worth seeing for the acting (other than Deniro) and interaction between the characters.