This film was a bomb, losing millions of dollars. And I'm not surprised. It's a very serious film which would be likely to attract a very specific and small audience. Thank goodness films like this occasionally get made.
I know it sounds as if I just contradicted myself, but just because it was a bomb, didn't mean that it's not a fine film. And the strength of this film are the performances. The strongest of the performances is by Glenn Close, who plays the lead male's sister who has lesbian inclinations. She's been treated unfairly her whole life and suffers for most of it. A strong, strong performance. Next is Meryl Streep. Just about as good as always as the psychic wife of the male lead.
Then we come to Jeremy Irons. Hmmmmm. I have mixed feelings here. Irons' character here is so despicable that you know he will get his comeuppance before the movie ends. Is it wise to be that obvious? To play it that "hard"? I think not. So I'll reserve judgment here simply because, typically, Irons is a wonderful actor.
In supporting roles, the most notable are those of Winona Ryder as the daughter and Antonio Banderas as her poor lover. Both do great jobs. I enjoyed seeing Vanessa Redgrave and Armin Mueller-Stahl as the parents of Streep, but they didn't get enough screen time.
Now as to the script. It's good...perhaps a tad slow in a few places. But character development is rather thorough. The story is of a relatively poor young man who falls in love, but works to strike gold in order to marry a relatively rich girl. He does, but she dies. So, eventually he marries her sister (Streep), who doesn't talk...by her own choice. She does talk with him, however, and for a while they have a happy life. But he is a bitter shell of a man who has become a patrone who treats pretty much everyone harshly, always insisting he is boss. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that he will get his comeuppance, but it's cleverly done here in a way that combines personal tragedy with the history of so many South American countries.
Although it's never made clear in the film, the country depicted is Chile. A special note should be made of the makeup used to age the main characters. It's done very well here...a much better job than in a lot of films.
I recommend this film IF you like serious movies. Otherwise, it may bore you. I found it rather compelling.
I know it sounds as if I just contradicted myself, but just because it was a bomb, didn't mean that it's not a fine film. And the strength of this film are the performances. The strongest of the performances is by Glenn Close, who plays the lead male's sister who has lesbian inclinations. She's been treated unfairly her whole life and suffers for most of it. A strong, strong performance. Next is Meryl Streep. Just about as good as always as the psychic wife of the male lead.
Then we come to Jeremy Irons. Hmmmmm. I have mixed feelings here. Irons' character here is so despicable that you know he will get his comeuppance before the movie ends. Is it wise to be that obvious? To play it that "hard"? I think not. So I'll reserve judgment here simply because, typically, Irons is a wonderful actor.
In supporting roles, the most notable are those of Winona Ryder as the daughter and Antonio Banderas as her poor lover. Both do great jobs. I enjoyed seeing Vanessa Redgrave and Armin Mueller-Stahl as the parents of Streep, but they didn't get enough screen time.
Now as to the script. It's good...perhaps a tad slow in a few places. But character development is rather thorough. The story is of a relatively poor young man who falls in love, but works to strike gold in order to marry a relatively rich girl. He does, but she dies. So, eventually he marries her sister (Streep), who doesn't talk...by her own choice. She does talk with him, however, and for a while they have a happy life. But he is a bitter shell of a man who has become a patrone who treats pretty much everyone harshly, always insisting he is boss. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that he will get his comeuppance, but it's cleverly done here in a way that combines personal tragedy with the history of so many South American countries.
Although it's never made clear in the film, the country depicted is Chile. A special note should be made of the makeup used to age the main characters. It's done very well here...a much better job than in a lot of films.
I recommend this film IF you like serious movies. Otherwise, it may bore you. I found it rather compelling.