More about this DVD  •  DVD Info  •  Movie Main Page  •  Message Board

I have very mixed feelings about this epic story of obsessive love. The tale spans fifty-six years in the lives of two star-crossed Columbian lovers. The story begins over a century ago. A teenager named Florentino (Javier Bardem) works in a telegraph office and while delivering a telegram to the affluent Daza home, he’s dazzled by the sight of Fermina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), the family’s lovely sixteen year old daughter. Alas, she’s protected vigorously by her father, Lorenzo Daza (John Leguizamo), who hopes for a prosperous match, not one with a telegraph operator. So when Fermina and Florentino are discovered secretly exchanging love letters, the father sends her far away to stay with a cousin. Florentino arranges to send Fermina loving telegrams each day, but after months of isolation, her father wears down her resistance. She accepts the possibility that her feelings for Florentino were an illusion and she agrees to marry a successful man, a doctor named Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt). He will treat her well and their marriage will be relatively successful, even if Juvenal is caught in an affair.

Florentino is devastated; his mother Tránsito (Fernanda Montenegro) is so concerned that she conspires to have her son seduced by a voluptuous woman recently widowed. This experience proves to be an epiphany. Florentino finds the sex a distraction, something that eases the pain. He resolves to remain faithful to Fermina… emotionally. He’ll make love to many women and he keeps a diary to prove it; the count will reach an impressive six hundred and twenty two. And these are young, attractive, sexy women; how he does it is a mystery. He never allows himself to become attached; his love is reserved for Fermina. We follow the course of his sexual adventures and Fermina’s marriage for half a century.

Florentino wishes the doctor dead, and eventually he’s granted his wish. In fact, the film opens with Juvenal’s death and funeral, Florentino’s eager approach, and Fermina’s her shock and disgust with his timing. We are then thrust back into a prolonged, linear flashback that will take well over two hours to catch up with the funeral and its aftermath. I’ll not reveal more.

I didn’t have Florentino’s patience. He beds many beautiful and sexy women who have genuine feelings for him. Among the last is America Vicuña (Marcela Mar), a lovely college student with a healthy sexual appetite who loves him at an age when most men are on Viagra. And yet, he never manages to move on, to allow himself to return their affections. I suspect that many of you have had an obsessive love, quite possibly a first love; I certainly did. But when it doesn’t work out you eventually move on and find happiness elsewhere. Not Florentino.

Is it possible that novelist Gabriel García Márquez is simply playing with our sensibilities? Are all those impossibly numerous and attractive sexual conquests mostly figments of Florentino’s imagination? It doesn’t matter. Javier Bardem’s Florentino Ariza mopes for over two hours; in a lifelong state of what appears to be clinical depression, I’m surprised he could perform in bed at all. But perhaps this is simply a fantasy, a tale of an unusual man with unusual feelings. Perhaps the lifelong obsession is simply a plot device to engage the reader and the viewer. Unfortunately, despite the fine production values, the fine cast, and the competent direction, I found that the story simply taxed my patience.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in a very fine anamorphic video transfer. There is very little to criticize in the images. Color rendition is excellent, from the lush greenery of the tropical forests to the natural flesh tones of the tan Columbians. Video dynamic range is also quite fine; I saw no white crush, but there was a bit of black crush that had a slightly adverse effect on the shadow detail. Most important, I didn’t see any intrusive edge halos. Nor did I observe any macroblocking or mosquito noise. For a 480p presentation, small object detail and finely grained textures are quite good, better than most DVDs. Nicely done.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is also quite fine. Note that as with virtually all New Line DVDs, no THX re- equalization is required. For a dialog-based drama, I found the surround use to be quite enveloping. Discrete sounds, ambient sounds, weather, and crowd sounds are liberally mixed into the track. Fireworks demonstrate a persuasive bottom end. Other sound effects just serve the onscreen action. Dialog is crystal clear throughout and I was particularly impressed with the voiceover narration; it had great in-the-room presence.

The alternate track is also in English, presented in Dolby stereo. The optional subtitles are in English and Spanish.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

We begin with a feature-length commentary by director Mike Newell. He’s guilty of the cardinal sin of narration. Too frequently he explains and describes that which is onscreen and intuitively obvious to the viewer. One has to get though much superfluous and boring material to get to the occasional gems, like a description of the security risks of flying a helicopter under three thousand feet over certain parts of the jungle. He does get around to discussing casting, which leads to a bit of gushing. Casting also provokes a few comments about funding and bankability. And I have to admit that I welcomed the diversion of his complaints about the difficulties of getting a cat to scratch an extra’s bum. You’ll also need patience to get through this commentary.

The first video supplement is a making- of featurette (30:30, 480p). I enjoyed this extra far more than the commentary. We learn about the challenges of bringing the novel to the screen and the reluctance of he author to offer the rights. The production was originally to have filmed in Brazil, but the vice-president of Columbia called to motivate a location change and responded to concerns about security with guarantees of safety and armed guards. The filmmakers then decided that filming in the locations described in the novel made a great deal of sense. There are extensive interviews with cast and crew members. Some complain about the heat and staggering humidity, which had a tendency to melt the extensive aging makeup. But ultimately, the environment added a touch of authenticity to the performances. Of interest to the technically minded is the sequence about the creation of the river paddleboat. The short focuses on many aspects of the shoot and informs rather than markets.

Next are seventeen deleted scenes (18:08 aggregate) and presented in respectable anamorphic video. They may be viewed individually or with the handy Play All option. There’s also the option of listening to editor Mick Audsley commenting on the cuts. Some of these scenes are charming; some are throwaway. Some are new; some are extensions. None adds to our understating of the characters or the nature of the story arcs, even a deleted bandit attack. So on that basis, they are all redundant, and since the theatrical runtime is very generous, they had to go.

You’ll find the film’s theatrical trailer (1:50, 480p) and a collection of other New Line trailers and previews (8:24 aggregate) presented in a variety of formats from 480p to non-anamorphic widescreen to full screen.

The 138-minute film is organized into twenty chapters.

Easter Eggs

You’ll find the usual DVD credit screens if you select the New Line logo from the main menu page.