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:

Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

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:

widow | colombia | marriage | 19th century | 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 [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

El amor en los tiempos del cólera

Filming Locations:

Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,924,860, 18 November 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,607,608, 20 December 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,336,389, 5 April 2009

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

Producer Scott Steindorff spent over 3 years courting Gabriel García Márquez for the rights to the book telling him that he was Florentino and wouldn't give up until he got the rights.

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Goofs

A man utters a New Year's speech in which he emphasizes the year 1900 being the beginning of the 20th century. In fact centuries are counted from the year 1 to the full hundred, which makes 1900 the last year of the 19th century. Analogical error was very common in the media in the year 2000.

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Quotes

Dr. Juvenal Urbino: I love you above all else. More than anyone else in the world. The important thing in marriage is not happiness but stability.
Fermina Urbino: And love. Nothing is more difficult than love.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Beowulf/Margot at the Wedding/Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium/Enchanted/Southland Tales/Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)

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Soundtracks

Toccata from Symphony No 5 in F Op. 42 No 1
Written by Charles Marie Widor
Performed by Philip Ledger (as Phillip Ledger)
Published by kind permission of Editions Hamelle/Alphonse Leduc, Paris and United Music Publishers Ltd,
England
Track (p) 1992, licensed by kind permission Naxos Rights Itnernational Ltd

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.