I watched this movie a few days ago for the first time, with my mother. I wasn't sure what to expect because I hadn't watched the trailer or read about the movie before. In fact, I haven't even read Isabel Allende's book. What caught my attention and made me watch it was the participation of Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, two artists that I love to see working. And what a surprise when I started talking "I've been there!" or "I know that place" while watching some scenes! To my pride, this movie was almost totally shot in Portugal. I am so used to seeing other countries in foreign films that I always feel joy and pride when I recognize my own country. And Portugal is such a beautiful country, with so much to show and so much potential that I am surprised to be so little visited by the foreign filmmakers. Maybe this will change gradually, now that John Malkovich, Madonna and Monica Belluci are living here with us...
The story of this film is interesting and appealing: spanning three generations of the same family, it focuses on Clara, a woman with a psychic gift to predict the future and contact the dead, and her marriage with Esteban, a wealthy farmer who made his fortune with much effort. But the main plot is about the forbidden love story between their daughter, the idealist Blanca, and Pedro Segundo, a poor young man who, moreover, is a communist. The hostile relation between Pedro and Esteban allows the film to show the political evolution of Chile during the twentieth century, from an oligarchic and conservative republic to a military dictatorship.
All these things are good but this story has some problems as well, which may (or may not) have origin in Allende's book. To begin with, I didn't like to see Clara's powers so poorly used. It's a subject with no real importance for the course of the story, and I was expecting more here. Another major problem is the simplistic way that political issues are handled. Everything is black and white, no gray areas. Communists are the good guys, fighting for freedom and people's rights, and conservatives are the bad guys, who are greedy, corrupt and oppressive. This is wrong, probably untrue and smells like leftist propaganda. In politics, things are never so simple as that. I believe, at least at this point, that the problem may be in Allende's text, for she is deeply communist and has never forgotten the brutal way her father was murdered, but even this doesn't justify the highly biased way the film deals with political subjects.
Concerning the actors, I am very happy. Meryl Streep did very well, with a contained and timid performance as required by her character. However, she was damaged by the way the script deals with psychic powers of her character. Winona Ryder was beautiful, giving strength and personality to her character. However, sometimes she seems naive and, as we don't realize the beginning of her love story, it seems untrue and far-fetched sometimes. Antonio Banderas was fine but this wasn't the right movie for him to shine. His character is a hook for the biased political portrait I mentioned and to create a love story that makes everything else more digestible. Glenn Close was more unlucky, however. I never understood the purpose of her character, whose permanence on screen is brief and doesn't bring many changes to the plot. Jeremy Irons dominates the film. He was excellent, toasting the audience with an exceptional work, worthy of an Oscar. In fact, with so many stars, it's surprising how the film went unnoticed.
Technically, the film also seems irreproachable. Good cinematography and an excellent soundtrack, which remained in the ear for some time after the movie ended. Of course, I really loved the choice of shooting locations, and I found it funny to see the Portuguese Army participating in the film although I wonder who paid for them, after all they are not paid to do figuration and would be very serious if that money came out of the taxpayer's pocket.
This is a very good film, with a star-cast working hard to please us, beautiful sets and costumes and an appealing love story. In general, it will surely worth our attention.
The story of this film is interesting and appealing: spanning three generations of the same family, it focuses on Clara, a woman with a psychic gift to predict the future and contact the dead, and her marriage with Esteban, a wealthy farmer who made his fortune with much effort. But the main plot is about the forbidden love story between their daughter, the idealist Blanca, and Pedro Segundo, a poor young man who, moreover, is a communist. The hostile relation between Pedro and Esteban allows the film to show the political evolution of Chile during the twentieth century, from an oligarchic and conservative republic to a military dictatorship.
All these things are good but this story has some problems as well, which may (or may not) have origin in Allende's book. To begin with, I didn't like to see Clara's powers so poorly used. It's a subject with no real importance for the course of the story, and I was expecting more here. Another major problem is the simplistic way that political issues are handled. Everything is black and white, no gray areas. Communists are the good guys, fighting for freedom and people's rights, and conservatives are the bad guys, who are greedy, corrupt and oppressive. This is wrong, probably untrue and smells like leftist propaganda. In politics, things are never so simple as that. I believe, at least at this point, that the problem may be in Allende's text, for she is deeply communist and has never forgotten the brutal way her father was murdered, but even this doesn't justify the highly biased way the film deals with political subjects.
Concerning the actors, I am very happy. Meryl Streep did very well, with a contained and timid performance as required by her character. However, she was damaged by the way the script deals with psychic powers of her character. Winona Ryder was beautiful, giving strength and personality to her character. However, sometimes she seems naive and, as we don't realize the beginning of her love story, it seems untrue and far-fetched sometimes. Antonio Banderas was fine but this wasn't the right movie for him to shine. His character is a hook for the biased political portrait I mentioned and to create a love story that makes everything else more digestible. Glenn Close was more unlucky, however. I never understood the purpose of her character, whose permanence on screen is brief and doesn't bring many changes to the plot. Jeremy Irons dominates the film. He was excellent, toasting the audience with an exceptional work, worthy of an Oscar. In fact, with so many stars, it's surprising how the film went unnoticed.
Technically, the film also seems irreproachable. Good cinematography and an excellent soundtrack, which remained in the ear for some time after the movie ended. Of course, I really loved the choice of shooting locations, and I found it funny to see the Portuguese Army participating in the film although I wonder who paid for them, after all they are not paid to do figuration and would be very serious if that money came out of the taxpayer's pocket.
This is a very good film, with a star-cast working hard to please us, beautiful sets and costumes and an appealing love story. In general, it will surely worth our attention.