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USA 2007

“Like most adaptations of great works of literature, Love in the Time of Cholera suffers from the blessing of a great story and the curse of extremely high expectations. In Cholera, Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem) pursues the love of Fermina Daza (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) despite the differences in their families' economic statuses. Fermina's father sends her away after finding out about her infatuation and eventually she marries a doctor he finds more acceptable, leaving Florentino alone yet still pining for her love. This drives him to become a notorious womanizer as well as a financial success in his attempt to become something that she would find attractive… Cholera ends up less about the couple's specific love and more a meditation on the relationship between the physical body and love, with cholera itself both a metaphor for the couple's love and indicative of the gaps from this type of representation. The film focuses on a changing point of view in terms of how the body and emotions should interact in such a way that its story is just as much about this thematic subplot as it is about the specific characters. While the experience of watching the film is different from reading the book, the cinmeatic version recognizes this. Rather than attempting to supplant the original, it instead focuses on retelling the important parts of the story in a different manner. No, Love in the Time of Cholera is not the masterpiece that its source material is, but by choosing not to top the original it still ends up mostly succeeding as a film.” — Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine

Director: Mike Newell
Producer: Scott Steindorff
Screenplay: Ronald Harwood
Based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Editor: Mick Audsley
Music: Antonio Pinto

With: Javier Bardem (Florentino Ariza), Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Fermina Urbino), Benjamin Bratt (Dr. Juvenal Urbino), Fernanda Montenegro (Tránsito Ariza), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Hildebranda), Hector Elizondo (Don Leo), Laura Harring (Sara Noriega), John Leguizamo (Lorenzo Daza), Live Schreiber (Lotario Thugut)

139 mins, DV

M sex scenes, offensive language

Nelson Film Society
Thursday 10 June, 6.00pm

Waitati Film Society
Tuesday 12 October, 8.00pm