BRAZIL: Mike Newell's "Love in the Time of Cholera" premieres at the Rio Film Festival

Record ID: 708366

  • Title: BRAZIL: Mike Newell's "Love in the Time of Cholera" premieres at the Rio Film Festival
  • Date: 10th October 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR MIKE NEWELL SAYING: "I was terrified of Marquez (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of "Love in the Time of Cholera"). He had written a series of notes on the first draft of the script, which was some of the best notes that I had ever read." CLOSE OF REPORTER TAKING NOTES DURING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN ACTRESS MARCELA MAR SAYI
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Reuters ID: LVAEDL2J0RM91PJ9PLINERVADX99
  • Story Text: Mike Newell's "Love in the Time of Cholera" premieres in Rio Film Festival with the presence of Brazilian and Colombian cast.

    Mike Newel's highly anticipated "Love in the Time of Cholera", an adaptation of the epic romance of Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, had its global premiere in Rio de Janeiro's International Film Festival on Wednesday (October 03).
    Fans and photographers lined the red carpet outside Rio's most traditional movie theater to take a glance at the famous faces entering the house.
    Although the Spanish actor Javier Barden let down his local fans, celebrated Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro, who played Bardem's mother in the film, stole the spotlight. Newell's film is the hottest ticket at this year's Rio festival.
    In a news conference before the opening night, Newell and part of his cast of Colombian and Brazilian actresses spoke of the difficulties of making a movie based on such a complex romance. The producers also brought up the challenges of shooting in an isolated area, where they lacked resources for such a hefty production.
    "Love in the Time of Cholera", published in 1985, follows the struggles of Florentina Ariza to win the heart of Fermina Daza. It takes the hero 51 years, nine months and four days, but he wins her in the end.
    It took producer Scot Steindorff at least two years to convince the Nobel laureate to sell him the rights to his celebrated 1985 novel. Marquez had long resisted to Hollywood's tempting offers because of his leftist principles.
    Newel guaranteed the writer's fans that despite being an American production, he went an extra mile to preserve the novel's Latin essence in the movie. In fact, the director said filming in Cartagena, Colombia, with a largely local crew, helped a lot in that sense.
    The English director said Marquez warned him of the difficulty in making a movie out of his romance and scribbled notes all over the first draft of the script.
    "I was terrified of Marquez (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of "Love in the Time of Cholera"). He had written a series of notes on the first draft of the script, which was some of the best notes that I had ever read," he said at a news conference.
    Marcela Mar, one of the Colombian actresses who took part in the movie, said the film presents a universal story that will remain in people's memories.
    "I feel this is a universal story. I think it is a moving and beautiful story which will be remembered by the spectators for many years," she said after being asked about the movie being in English.
    Brazil's Montenegro recalled the importance of having shot the movie in Latin America, a region she said is so forgotten by the rest of the world.
    "A Latin cast was put together - these people who are strange to the rest of the world - people from a continent totally forgotten by the rest of the world, and because of this, so rich and interesting," she said.
    The 60-million-dollar production was shot last year and is expected to open in the United States on November 16. The movie has generated some very positive feedback from the few privileged people who had the chance to see it and is likely to become a hit.
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