"The Bridges of Madison County" is a leisurely-paced, finely-tuned romantic drama beautifully orchestrated by director/actor Clint Eastwood, with a transcending performance by Meryl Streep.
Based on Robert James Waller's surprisingly successful novella, this project has Clint Eastwood straying from his formulaic action material and winding up with one of the most lyrical, passionate dramas to come out recently. Who knew Eastwood could aim so perfectly for the heart without the help of a gun and holster.
In adapting this rather prosaic piece of prose for the screen, Eastwood shrewdly (and graciously) shifts the point of view from Robert Kincaid to Francesca Johnson. With Meryl Streep as its primary focus, how could anything go wrong? Streep is simply luminous here as the foreign-born Iowa farmwife and mother consigned to a life of drudgery. Her family away for the week, she happens upon a handsome, worldly photographer briefly in town scouting out locations for his next National Geographic spread. What results is a beautifully mature story of spiritual and unconditional love. Eastwood himself displays a rare, vulnerable side as the taciturn Kincaid who has grown accustomed to a solitary, self-serving existence. The chemistry between Eastwood and Streep is surprisingly potent and ultimately moving, a real tribute to their disparate talents.
With subtle nuance, we slowly become familiar with these two unlikely strangers in the night. A harmless lunch...a cozier dinner...revealing conversation...a slight brush of the shoulder...the casual adjustment of a shirt collar...a spontaneous mating dance. Once their true feelings finally come to the surface, we feel for them and understand and rationalize their attraction. This is absolutely crucial in maintaining the beauty of the romance for it must reroute the obvious appearance of a housewife conducting an adulterous affair with some fly-by-night Romeo. Significantly, Francesca's husband is not portrayed here as an abusive lout deserving of such betrayal. He is simply a remote, unresponsive farmer who has settled routinely into mid-life -- still devoted to his family.
The perfervid affair, of course, is beset with feelings of guilt, anguish and fear, but never regret. Ever mindful of small-town gossip (one cruel restaurant scene has a known scarlet' woman openly ostracized by its patrons and employees), the couple find out-of-the-way places to go to enjoy their brief time together, while faced with the dilemma of their futures. The climactic scene in the truck with the tormented Francesca gripping the door handle, torn between staying in the truck with her unsuspecting husband or fleeing to Eastwood in the automobile stopped just ahead of them is one of the most searing, agonizing screen moments ever experienced by this viewer.
A minor drawback to the film is the "present day" subplot device, which reappears sporadically and bookends the affair seen in flashback. These scenes involve Francesca's two surviving children coming to terms with the discovery of their mother's past affair via letters, diaries and mementos purposely left to be read upon her death. These segments are integral, to be sure, but awkwardly presented and annoyingly intrusive.
Known for his deep love of jazz, Eastwood incorporates a wonderfully lush, often bluesy score, littered with familiar classics, notably by the late, great Dinah Washington, whose exquisite version of "I'll Close My Eyes" is a must for every music library, and Johnny Hartman, whose "For All We Know" highlights the lovers' initial encounter.
"The Bridges of Madison County," despite its deliberately languid pace, is an enduring wallow for incurable romantics everywhere. Simply, it is an affair to remember.
Based on Robert James Waller's surprisingly successful novella, this project has Clint Eastwood straying from his formulaic action material and winding up with one of the most lyrical, passionate dramas to come out recently. Who knew Eastwood could aim so perfectly for the heart without the help of a gun and holster.
In adapting this rather prosaic piece of prose for the screen, Eastwood shrewdly (and graciously) shifts the point of view from Robert Kincaid to Francesca Johnson. With Meryl Streep as its primary focus, how could anything go wrong? Streep is simply luminous here as the foreign-born Iowa farmwife and mother consigned to a life of drudgery. Her family away for the week, she happens upon a handsome, worldly photographer briefly in town scouting out locations for his next National Geographic spread. What results is a beautifully mature story of spiritual and unconditional love. Eastwood himself displays a rare, vulnerable side as the taciturn Kincaid who has grown accustomed to a solitary, self-serving existence. The chemistry between Eastwood and Streep is surprisingly potent and ultimately moving, a real tribute to their disparate talents.
With subtle nuance, we slowly become familiar with these two unlikely strangers in the night. A harmless lunch...a cozier dinner...revealing conversation...a slight brush of the shoulder...the casual adjustment of a shirt collar...a spontaneous mating dance. Once their true feelings finally come to the surface, we feel for them and understand and rationalize their attraction. This is absolutely crucial in maintaining the beauty of the romance for it must reroute the obvious appearance of a housewife conducting an adulterous affair with some fly-by-night Romeo. Significantly, Francesca's husband is not portrayed here as an abusive lout deserving of such betrayal. He is simply a remote, unresponsive farmer who has settled routinely into mid-life -- still devoted to his family.
The perfervid affair, of course, is beset with feelings of guilt, anguish and fear, but never regret. Ever mindful of small-town gossip (one cruel restaurant scene has a known scarlet' woman openly ostracized by its patrons and employees), the couple find out-of-the-way places to go to enjoy their brief time together, while faced with the dilemma of their futures. The climactic scene in the truck with the tormented Francesca gripping the door handle, torn between staying in the truck with her unsuspecting husband or fleeing to Eastwood in the automobile stopped just ahead of them is one of the most searing, agonizing screen moments ever experienced by this viewer.
A minor drawback to the film is the "present day" subplot device, which reappears sporadically and bookends the affair seen in flashback. These scenes involve Francesca's two surviving children coming to terms with the discovery of their mother's past affair via letters, diaries and mementos purposely left to be read upon her death. These segments are integral, to be sure, but awkwardly presented and annoyingly intrusive.
Known for his deep love of jazz, Eastwood incorporates a wonderfully lush, often bluesy score, littered with familiar classics, notably by the late, great Dinah Washington, whose exquisite version of "I'll Close My Eyes" is a must for every music library, and Johnny Hartman, whose "For All We Know" highlights the lovers' initial encounter.
"The Bridges of Madison County," despite its deliberately languid pace, is an enduring wallow for incurable romantics everywhere. Simply, it is an affair to remember.