Elegy (2008)

Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life, which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood", thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writers:

Nicholas Meyer (screenplay), Philip Roth (novel)

Stars:

Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Penélope Cruz	...	Consuela Castillo
Ben Kingsley	...	David Kepesh
Dennis Hopper	...	George O'Hearn
Patricia Clarkson	...	Carolyn
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Kenny Kepesh
Debbie Harry	...	Amy O'Hearn (as Deborah Harry)
Charlie Rose	...	Charlie Rose
Antonio Cupo	...	Younger Man
Michelle Harrison	...	2nd Student
Sonja Bennett	...	Beth
Emily Holmes	...	1st Student
Chelah Horsdal	...	Susan Reese
Marci T. House	...	Administration Nurse
Alessandro Juliani	...	Actor #3 in Play
Tiffany Lyndall-Knight	...	Actor #2 in Play

Storyline

David Kepesh is growing old. He's a professor of literature, a student of American hedonism, and an amateur musician and photographer. When he finds a student attractive, Consuela, a 24-year-old Cuban, he sets out to seduce her. Along the way, he swims in deeper feelings, maybe he's drowning. She presses him to sort out what he wants from her, and a relationship develops. They talk of traveling. He confides in his friend, George, a poet long-married, who advises David to grow up and grow old. She invites him to meet her family. His own son, from a long-ended marriage, confronts him. Is the elegy for lost relationships, lost possibilities, beauty and time passing, or failure of nerve?

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Plot Keywords:

older man younger woman relationship | teacher | sex | sexual attraction | breasts | 

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Taglines:

Love Has No Boundaries

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Elegy: Dying Animal

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$104,168, 10 August 2008

Gross USA:

$3,581,642

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,894,347

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lakeshore Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David (Sir Ben Kingsley) tells Consuela that she looks like Goya's Maja Desnuda. Penélope Cruz (Consuela) plays Pepita Tudó in Volavérunt (1999), possibly a model for the Maja Desnuda.

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Goofs

At one point Ben Kingsley says to Penelope Cruz, "The beast with two backs. Where's that from?" She answers Shakespeare and he agrees that it's from Othello. The fact is that Shakespeare borrowed it from the original author, Francois Rabelais. The phrase appears in French as "la bête à deux dos" in Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1532.

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Quotes

David Kepesh: You know for a Pulitzer prize winning poet, sometimes you display a remarkable lack of imagination.
George O'Hearn: That's why they gave me the fucking prize.

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Connections

References Charlie Rose (1991)

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Soundtracks

Jingle Bells
Written by James Pierpont (uncredited)
Arranged by Ralph Allwood
Performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (as The Royal Philharmonic)
Courtesy of Extreme Production Music USA

User Reviews

adaptation of the Roth novella The Dying Animal.

This is the first time that Roth has been successfully transferred to the screen. An uncompromising movie for grownups with two exquisite central performances, and some very nice supporting turns by Clarkson, Hopper and Sarsgaard. What impressed me about this movie is that it dares to be slow, dark, almost meditative. Roth's short book does not have much plot to it, so that adapting it to the screen runs more risks than would be the case for one of his more developed novels. But the director and screenwriter make a virtue of the book's spare narrative elements. It takes its time studying faces, glances and shadows. I will be happy if I see another movie half as good this year.