New Line Cinema and Stone Village Picture Productions present an R rated film approximately 140 minutes directed by Mike Newell and starring Benjamin Bratt (Dr. Juvenal Urbino), Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Fermina Urbino), Javier Bardem (Florentino Ariza) with Marcela Mar (America Vicuna), Liev Schreiber (Lotario Thugut), John Leguizamo (Lorenzo Daza), Alicia Borrachero (Escolastica), Fernanda Montenegro (Transito Ariza), Hector Elizondo (Don Leo) and Maria Eugenia Arboleda (Gala Placidia) along with a numerous cast of extras and animals.
When the film opens to that of a beautiful Amazon parrot and a elderly gentleman climbing a ladder to reach for it in a tree, I knew a bite was soon to follow. Little did I know though, that the bite would lead to the that of a flashback to 1879 in Columbia. A young beautiful woman, Fermina, lives with her father, Lorenzo, falls in love with a young gentleman, Florentino, who obsesses about her from day to day. Like any father would, Lorenzo, only wants the best for Fermina and to marry a man of stature, not a telegraph operator like Florentino.
Their love is kept secret amongst each other through the passing of a glance and the writing of letters back and forth. Until one day, Lorenzo discovers their passion and decides to confront Florentino over a bottle of liquor and the flash of a gun. There is no greater honor than to die for love. Rather than kill young Florentino, Lorenzo decides to take Fermina far away to another city. It is the time of war and disease, cholera runs rampant throughout the streets. Fear strikes Lorenzo when he believes his only daughter is sick and summons the local doctor, Juvenal Urbino. Handsome, successful with a winning smile, Juvenal not only wins the heart of Lorenzo but in time that of Fermina as well. The two eventually marry and bare children. Throughout the passing of time, Florentino never gives up his love for Fermina and never marries but soon discovers that anonymous sexual encounters can help him cope with his one true lost love.
His mother tries to help him forget Fermina in many ways, sometimes even offering women her son's bed but the love for Fermina is never forgotten. There are several humorous positions and situations that Florentino encounters throughout the years and thankfully cats can't speak but of course they do have claws. Sexual diversions run deep in this story as Florentino ages from year to year moving from one woman to that of hundreds even causing the death of the pigeon lady. Let's just say, like the cat ,the pigeon can't talk but when the writing is on the wall or in her case stomach it doesn't take a genius to know that the meaning of "this is mine" is not exactly yours!
Time passes into the 20th Century and like the fighting of cocks for entertainment and betting, man once again finds that it is not only chickens that fight to the death for survival but that of a dishonest husband. Like that of silent films life takes on several silent moments and although not forgotten Fermina considers Florentino not a man but rather a ghost in order to cope with her own thoughts of mistakes she has made in her choices throughout the years. For Florentino his heart has more rooms than a whore house and after 51 years, 9 months and 4 days he decides to open those rooms to Fermina on one of the worst days of her life.
But time heals most wounds, memories are never forgotten and two old people about to be ambushed by death who may not necessarily believe in God but are afraid of him at this point in their lives find love on the riverboat. Exchanging a kiss that runs decades, once lost but now found yet never forgotten. In the end, it is truly life not death that has no limits.
When the film starts I was a bit uncertain if I would find it appealing, it jumps around, has wild and over-dramatized characters, and seems a bit off the cuff but as the story unfolds and you get to become familiar with the main characters, the film takes a turn towards enjoyable but thankfully, not longer. Bratt was astounding, as was Bardem and Mezzogiorno but I truly could have gone without the obnoxious antics of Leguizamo's over acted role. The breath-taking cinematography set to an appropriate score definitely helped to add a sense of stability to a well written albeit at times a bit ridiculously directed script. Not quite the level of the film "Notebook", I can't see it making a huge box office splash although it will find it's core audience. Not to worry, if you don't speak the Spanish language this film is in English, filled with the true feelings of what one person would do for love. Would you wait 50 years for your one true love? Mentally yes but physically, well, maybe ask the cat!
Reporting for Talkin' Pets, I'm Jon Patch.