Movie Review: Love in the Time of Cholera

Anyone who has ever read anything written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is too familiar with the complexity of his writings, his characters, and the culture he so vividly attempts to explicate.  Love in the Time of Cholera is not without its own intricacies.  Gabriel Garcia Marquez' characters are raw with emotion and alien to violence as an expression of passion.

The wonderfully chosen cast Benjamin Bratt, John Leguiziamo, and Hector Elizondo, directed by Mike Harward (known among others for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Mona Lisa Smile) all gave an excellent performance developing their roles more as an ensemble which in turn helped make it the cinematic masterpiece that it deserved to be.  The Oscar winner screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist), in an equally artistic and sensitive manner uncovered the heart and soul of this 1985 novel set in Cartagena, Colombia just before the turn of the century.  As with any novel, it is difficult to decide which portions to keep and which to remove, without compromising the integrity of the story.  Most of the dialog brought directly from the book, captures most of the true essence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' writing genius. 

Javier Bardem (The Sea Inside ‘04 & No Country for Old Men ‘07) as Florentino Ariza, portrays a love sick man who deceives himself into believing that he has remained celibate for his beloved.  In actuality, he has sex with over six hundred women, and inadvertently causes the death of one of his conquests, at the hands of her jealous husband.  Florentino reasons that as long as he feels there is no emotion, and only pleasure, he has not betrayed his love. 

Giovanna Mezogiorno, daughter of well known Italian actors Vittorio Mezogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi, plays the role of Florentino Ariza's (Javier Bardem) love interest Fermina.

Giovanna's beauty and innocence illuminates the screen, as she portrays a proper, compliant young woman who remains a desirable woman well into her seventies. 

In the end, the audience is left to decide if relationships are made by design or are indeed serendipity and is the true essence of love stronger than time itself.

Best movie of the year and Oscar worthy performances.  Caution it does have an "R" rating for a reason.