I have it :D
I got a copy of this film a few days ago. I'll try to watch it asap and tell you guys what i think...maybe even try writing a review.
shareand...? How was it?
shareI just saw it and... it's an art movie. Loved it! This movie will surely be a flop in the USA at the box-office.
I think i need to watch it a second time to understand some things better. I watched it without subtitles and for some reason it was harder for me to fully understand what they spoke (one of the reason may be because i cannot turn up the volume due to the neighbour downstairs calling the police, so i have to watch it with the volum turned down to minimum and if the audio is not 100% clear i cannot understand everything).
Tell us more. What did you love about it? How were the performances?
shareOk, first of all, i don't know the book, never read it so i cannot compare the movie with the book.
Now, what i loved about it? I don't know... i just did. The pace of the movie seemed right (kept reminding me of Girl with a Pearl Earring), the story was great and the directing (camera work bla bla) was good. Most of the time i cannot really say why i liked a movie... if i like it i just like it, for some reason :)
Gabriel Byrne and Robert De Niro had little screen time (especially Byrne) and they didn't had a great impact (performance wise). They were both good but not outstanding (i liked the way Byrne looks at the end when he is burned). The main focus of the story is on Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Pilar López de Ayala and Kathy Bates. Harvey Keitel and Pilar Lopez both have a very good performance but in my oppinion F. Murray Abraham was the best!
Kathy Bates is also pretty good. The Polish brothers do a good job too and the same goes for the actress that played the servant for Kathy Bates.
I completely agree here with Filaz, I don't know why I like it, I just do for some reason. Here is my following review.
The movie opens with a large gathering in a church, and we see Gabriel Byrne's character, Brother Juniper, is relating a story, the story of the collapse of the Bridge of San Luis Rey. Brother Juniper is on trial before the Inquisition because he compiled a book on the details of the lives of the five victims who died in the collapse of the bridge, trying to piece together clues which indicate whether the "evil" ones were destroyed justly and the "innocent" ones got unjust punishment from God. The Church viewed that as heretical because it's questioning the logic of God's actions, so the Inquisition, with The Archbishop at the helm (Robert De Niro) is trying Brother Juniper and he has to relate to us the whole story.
The film moves on as Brother Juniper is describing the details of the victims' lives, and we learn about the Marquesa De Monta Mayor (Kathy Bates), a wealthy and lonely noblewoman, whose daughter Donya Clara moves off the Spain to the King's Court, leaving the Marquesa even more alone and deprived of anyone's caring or affection. The Marquesa ends up going to the Viceroy of Peru (F. Murray Abraham) to get permission to take a ship to Spain, and insodoing visit her daughter at the court of the King. When she arrives in Spain, she tries hard to win her daughter's affection but realizes she can't, so she ends up going back to Peru and into a secluded state, spending her time writing numerous letters to her daughter.
This is where the character of Adriana Dominguez comes in. She plays a nun at the convent run by the Abadesa (Geraldine Chaplin), and she is assigned to be the companion/caretaker of the Marquesa when the Archbishop comes to the convent to select a girl that will keep the Marquesa company in place of the Marquesa's daughter. All the meanwhile there is the intertwining story of the two twins, Manuel and Estaban (played by the Polish brothers), who in the story have invented and speak their own secret language, showing the unbreakable bond between the two. We also meet Uncle Pio (Harvery Keitel), the manager of the famous actress La Perichole (played by Pilar Lopez de Ayala), and Capitan Alvarado (John Lynch), captain of a ship in Lima.
The interesting thing is that all of the character's stories are all connected, and that's why it's good to see this movie more than once to actually understand all the connections. I don't really want to ruin too much of the plot itself (I haven't read the actual book so I'm not sure how true this is to the text), but I'll say that this is definitely a film worth watching if you get the chance. It's very well edited, amazing score (I love that theme throughout the whole movie, trying to get hold of the music), and solid acting, not to mention the brilliant story behind the whole thing.
FINAL RATING: a well deserved **** out of *****