HOW LONG WOULD YOU WAIT FOR LOVE?
After failing to marry the woman (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) he loves, Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem) decides to wait for her as long as it takes; the following fifty years are devoted to uncomplicated sexual pleasures. This take on Gabriel García Márquez’s widely celebrated novel drew lots of scorn from critics, and capturing its magical realism and complex depiction of love that hits you as hard as a bout of cholera was never going to be easy. It does avoid disaster though thanks to an engaging story as well as competent and emotional work from the filmmakers and cast… but nothing ever stands out.
2007-U.S. 138 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Mike Newell. Screenplay: Ronald Harwood. Novel: Gabriel García Márquez. Cinematography: Affonso Beato. Song: “Despedida” (performed by Shakira). Cast: Javier Bardem (Florentino Ariza), Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Fermina Urbino), Benjamin Bratt (Juvenal Urbino), Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hector Elizondo, Liev Schreiber… John Leguizamo.
