Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)

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.

Director:

Mike Newell

Writers:

Ronald Harwood (screenplay), Gabriel García Márquez (novel)

Stars:

Benjamin Bratt, Gina Bernard Forbes, Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Benjamin Bratt	...	Dr. Juvenal Urbino
Gina Bernard Forbes	...	Digna Pardo
Giovanna Mezzogiorno	...	Fermina Urbino
Javier Bardem	...	Florentino Ariza
Marcela Mar	...	America Vicuña
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

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?

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Plot Keywords:

love | widow | colombia | marriage | old man | 

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Taglines:

How long would you wait for love?

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content/nudity and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official MySpace Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

El amor en los tiempos del cólera

Filming Locations:

Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,924,860 (USA) (16 November 2007)

Gross:

$4,584,886 (USA) (14 December 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Stone Village Pictures, Grosvenor Park Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The melody in the song "Hay Amores" (Bolero) sung by Shakira in this film is based on an anonymous traditional popular song called "La Panaderita" (The little baker woman) from the small town of Torrecilla en Cameros, La Rioja, Spain. Whether intentionally or by pure coincidence is not clear. The lyrics in Shakira's song are totally different, of course.

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Goofs

When the Widow Nazaret takes refuge in the Ariza home and has a drink with Florentino's mother, the mother reaches over as if to replace the cork in the decanter but doesn't do so; in the following reverse shot, the cork is in the decanter, but upon cutting back to the original angle it is again out.

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Quotes

Florentino Ariza: [closing scene, in bed together, but clothed] I love you, my crowned goddess. We're going to stay like this.
Fermina Urbino: You can't mean it.
Florentino Ariza: From the moment I was born, I have never said anything I did not mean.
Fermina Urbino: [exhales, almost trembling] And how long do you... you think we can... stay like this?
Fermina Urbino: Forever.
Fermina Urbino: Forever?
Florentino Ariza: [cut to view of the sun-lit boat anchored in the midst of the river] After 53 years, seven months and 11 days and night, my heart was at last fulfilled. And I discovered, to my joy, that it is life ...

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 17 November 2007 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Juanita"
Written by Miguel Antonio Hernandez Vasquez ('Toño Fernandez')
Performed by Toño Fernandez y sus Sanjacinteros
Published by SBK Colombia/Emi Music Publishing Ediciones Musicales M.V.O. Ltda
Master courtesy of Sunflower Entertainment Co, inc. o/b/o Discos Fuenters Edimusica SA

User Reviews

A Successful Translation of the Book

I was primed to enjoy the film because some events in the book dovetail with my life. I wanted to see how it would be translated to film. I wasn't disappointed.

An enormous amount of the book was inside the film. Many of the comedic and tragic scenes in Garcia's book were included, well-captured by the dialog. The cinematography was a superb visual equivalent to the author's luminously written depictions of a fairytale world.

If I'd not read the book first, and if I didn't find some elements of my own life inside the book, I'm not sure what I would have made of the film. I can only base my review on the fact that I've read the book, and that the makers of the film obviously did their best to be as truthful to the book as possible. The core belief of the film as well as the book - that love, in various forms, can last a lifetime - is true.