"സ്നേഹപൂർവ്വം ഗാബോയ്ക്ക് "
Love in the Time of Cholera (USA
/ 2007 / 139 min)
Dir: Mike Newell
Cast: Javier Bardem, Giovanna
Mezzogiorno and Benjamin Bratt.
Based on the novel of the same name, director Mike Newell's
Love in the Time of Cholera details a passionate love triangle between
Florentino Ariza, Fermina Daza and Dr. Juvenal Urbino that unfolds in
turn-of-the-century South America. Young
Florentino Ariza (Unax Ugalde) is a poor dreamer working as a telegraph
operator and sees and falls in love with young Fermina Daza (Giovanna
Mezzogiorno), daughter of a wealthy mule trader Lorenzo Daza (John Leguizamo)
who upon hearing of the infatuation whisks Fermina away as Florentino pledges
undying love and fidelity to Fermina. Florentino's mother Tránsito (Fernanda
Montenegro), his uncle Leo (Hector Elizondo), and his friend Lotario Thugut
(Liev Schreiber) comfort him and try to encourage his mating with another
woman, but as Florentino matures (now Javier Bardem) even the long list of
sexual encounters cannot turn his mind away from Fermina. Fermina marries Dr.
Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt), travels widely, has his child and ultimately
discovers her husband's infidelity. Florentino inherits his Uncle's shipping
wealth, becoming one of the wealthy class that would have made him an eligible
suitor for Fermina when he originally met her. But time changes everything
except Florentino's commitment to Fermina and after the death of Dr. Urbino, he
has the chance to realize his long awaited dream of being with the now 70+ year
old lover.
García Márquez: A Witch Writing
(France / 1998 / 53
min)
Dir: Mauricio Martinez-Cavard, Yves
Billon
This is an
excellent documentary of the life, times, thoughts and writings of
Colombian-born Gabriel García Márquez, one of the twentieth century's most
notable authors who is most well known for his Nobel prize winning novel, One
Hundred Years of Solitude. García Márquez tells us in his own words, without
interruption from an interviewer, about his early life in civil-war torn
Colombia; his fascinating forays into other creative endeavors, including his
law school student days, employment as a journalist (he later founded a
journalism school/movement in Cuba); his work in the political arena; and his
less well-known work as a screenwriter and filmmaker. He is at his best when
ruminating about the unique and important roles and functions of writers in
society, particularly in Latin American dictatorships.
Of Love and Other Demons (Del amor y
otros demonios)
(Colombia / 2009 / 95 min)
Dir:
Hilda Hidalgo
Love, faith and superstition cross paths in this drama adapted
from a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Sierva (Eliza Triana) is a
twelve-year-old girl who is the daughter of socially and politically prominent
parents; however, their lives are hectic enough that they rarely see their own
child, and Sierva has largely been brought up by the African servants who look
after the house. Sierva is bitten by a dog and develops symptoms of rabies;
unfortunately, it's a common local superstition that rabies is a symptom of
demonic possession, and instead of taking her to a doctor, Sierva's minders put
her in the care of a priest, Cayetano (Pablo Derqui). The bishop who oversees
Cayetano insists he perform an exorcism, but the thirty-something priest
believes in gentler, more forgiving form of worship, and as he tries to invoke
the power of the Lord to help Sierva, he becomes convinced that she's ill, not
possessed. But he also has issues of his own to confront when he finds himself
drawn to the lovely but feral young woman.
.
No One Writes to the Colonel (El
coronel no tiene quien le escriba)
(Mexico / 1999 / 119 min)
Dir: Arturo Ripstein
In a small coastal town in Mexico in the late 1940's, an obstinate colonel
of the anticlerical Cristeros War keeps waiting for the pension that has been
promised to him but never delivered. Every Friday, he goes down to the docks,
dressed in his best suit in anticipation of the arrival of the letter
announcing his pension. Everyone knows that he is waiting in vain, but he
refuses to face reality, even though, deep in his heart, he knows that the
letter will never arrive. His wife is suffering from asthma; their son Agustin was
killed by the fascists; and the roof over their head will soon be taken away
because of the unpaid mortgage. Yet the Colonel stands by his dream, refusing
to give up despite poverty and hunger
