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

Was initially set to be filmed in Brazil because of security concerns in Colombia. In fact, director Mike Newell had already received all necessary inoculations for a stay in Brazil. Then, the Vice President of Colombia telephoned the producers, to insist that they make such a thoroughly Colombian story nowhere but Colombia. After two hours in Cartagena, and with many promises that the film company would be kept safe, the producer and director agreed to shoot there.

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Goofs

When Dr. Juvenal Urbino visits Florentino Ariza he asks him what kind of music Ariza likes. "The music of Carlos Gardel", Ariza answers. The time of the action is somewhere between 1890 and 1895. Gardel was born between (the date is not confirmed) 1883 and 1897. So, he was just a kid at that time, and he couldn't be known at all as the famous singer that died in a plane crash in Medellin (Colombia) in 1935, at the age of 48 or 52.

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Quotes

Florentino Ariza: I discovered to my joy, that it is life, not death, that has no limits.

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Connections

Referenced in In Plain Sight: Love in the Time of Colorado (2011)

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Soundtracks

Despedida
Music by Shakira and Antonio Pinto
Lyrics by Shakira
Produced by Shakira
Co-produced by Pedro Aznar
Performed by Shakira

User Reviews

Good as a movie, not an adaptation

First of all let's make clear that it would be impossible to portrait the book in this title... in my personal I feel the characters where completely different but it was not fault of the actors, probably of the script Anyway taking clear that Garcia Marquez's excellent job is simply impossible to fully adapt to a book it was an overall good production I was amaze by Bardem's performance, specially because it's a real challenge to portrait so many different stages of a same character. The acting of Bardem was (in my opinion) excellent. the photography was simply beautiful (though I admit there where a shot or two that reminded me more of Mexico than Colombia, but overall it was a Colombian landscape) the landscapes where exquisite and the musicality was decent, though Shakira's music I feel ruined it a little (I'm not a big fan of Shakira) in my opinion the BIG mistake of this movie was the fact that it was in English... I find it kind of anti-artistic to perform Colombian characters that speak in English... I believe that the movie has to adapt to the context it develops on, also it completely took off the little of Gabriel García Marquez's magic it had.

Overall I found it a great work... it's not an adaptation to Garcia Marquez's novel, but it was a great movie which I enjoyed.