A Time of Destiny (1988)

A modernized version of the story which inspired Verdi's opera, "La Forza del Destino".

Director:

Gregory Nava

Writers:

Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas

Stars:

William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Martin Larraneta
Timothy Hutton	...	Jack
Melissa Leo	...	Josie Larraneta
Francisco Rabal	...	Jorge Larraneta
Concha Hidalgo	...	Sebastiana
Stockard Channing	...	Margaret
Megan Follows	...	Irene
Frederick Coffin	...	Ed
Peter Palmer	...	Policeman
Kelly Pacheco	...	Young Josie
Allan Chambers	...	Gas Station Attendant
John O'Leary	...	Father Basil
Darin Willis	...	Bellboy
Charmaine Glennon	...	Sister at Desk
Justin Gocke	...	Young Martin

Storyline

Josie (Melissa Leo) elopes with Jack (Timothy Hutton) against her father's wishes. Her father follows her to the hotel where they are staying and forces Josie to go with him. Jack in turn follows resulting in an accident that leaves her father dead. Martin (William Hurt) her brother, who was despised by their father over something he did years ago, sees Jack while grieving over his father and then follows him to Europe where they were fighting the war and was about to kill Jack, when something happened that prevented him. The next thing he knows is that the two of them are being decorated, and somehow the two of them become comrades in arms but when the war ends will their friendship continue or will Martin continue what he set out to do in the beginning?

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Plot Keywords:

orchestral music score | world war two | 

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Taglines:

He was Josie's brother and Jack's best friend and he would stop at nothing to destroy them.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cast includes four Oscar winners: William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo, and Henry Bumstead; and one Oscar nominee: Stockard Channing.

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Connections

Version of Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino (1908)

User Reviews

Demonstrates Many Aspects Of Superior Film-making.

Appropriate attention to detail is characteristic of this powerful, well-cast, and well-made melodrama with the action pivoting about a San Diego based Spanish Basque family, skillfully directed by Basque Mexican Gregory Nava and featuring effectual contributions from many members of the cast and crew. Two of cinema's ablest and most intense actors, William Hurt (who partially researched his role at the Center For Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno) and Timothy Hutton, perform here as brothers-in-law obliged by one's iniquity to resolve their fateful conflict with violence, while other singular performances come from Melissa Leo, Stockard Channing, and Megan Follows as siblings of the Larraneta family, and Francisco Rabal is impressive as paterfamilias of the clan. A potent scenario emphasizes love and revenge as primary emotions within a creatively edited work noteworthy for its brilliant cinematography and montage by Nava as well as director of photography James Glennon, the action shot principally in Croatia, Trieste, and southern California. Suspense, an essential element of any genre, permeates the film, extending from its opening scenes to a Hitchcockian flavoured climax, enhanced throughout by Hurt's dynamic reading and by finely wrought episodic Ennio Morricone scoring. Costumes of Durinda Wood, set designs by Anne Kuljian, and the first-rate production designing of Henry Bumstead (who also plays several pages as an army Colonel) are united in the accurate recreation of 1942/5 San Diego as well as war battered Italy, and pre-war autos employed are correct. The mentioned adherence to accuracy of detail is clearly evident during scenes filmed at the historic Santa Fe Depot in San Diego that is still in use, occasioning tactical concerns that are nicely handled. Also of interest to cinephiles are wigs topping many of the females, due to contemporary (1988) modes of shorter hair, and additionally avoidance of obvious non-period jewelry among both featured players and extras. The presence on the soundtrack of that ultimate Verdian soprano, Rosa Ponselle, reflects the posture of the film's creators toward constructing a vivid drama of grandly emotional proportions, an objective clearly attained with this woefully undervalued motion picture.

Details

Country:

USA Yugoslavia

Language:

English Basque

Release Date:

22 April 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blind hævn

Filming Locations:

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum - Campo, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$509,397, 24 April 1988

Gross USA:

$1,212,487

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,212,487

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alive Films, Columbia Pictures, Jadran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1