Especially in the Golden Age of Hollywood people went to the movies to see beautiful people in dramatic settings fall in love and end in tragedy. This film is a throwback to those days. And who better to fit the bill of beautiful people than Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz and Theron’s current real-life boyfriend Stuart Townsend.
Theron (MONSTER) plays Gilda Besse, a half-American/ half-British elite who is notorious for her carefree attitude. She meets a student with a social conscience named Guy (Townsend, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN) one night when she stumbles into his dorm room to stay out of the rain, ending up staying the night. Their lives intersect several times, as they grow older. Guy becomes a teacher and Gilda dabbles in anything she can.
Then out of the blue she invites him to Paris and their romance sparks again. However, the beautiful Spanish nurse Mia (Cruz, VANILLA SKY) is also living there, which creates a strange love triangle. When the Spanish rebellion hits a fever pitch, Guy and Mia can no longer just sit on the sidelines thus joining the effort to the dramatic dismay of Gilda, who wants them all for herself and not to think about the plight of the world outside her sheltered and opulent life. The rest of the tale plays out dramatically over the course of WWII even linking Gilda to Nazi officer Frans Bietrich (Thomas Kretschmann, THE PIANIST).
The film is well performed and lushly shot. The melodrama is held at a convincing simmer with the right note of dramatic scoring that doesn’t over exceed. The film can be erotic at times, but is actually toned down compared to films like THE END OF THE AFFAIR or SUNSHINE. The story is not new, but these performers playing these tried and true characters bring life to the material. The film is completely engaging throughout even if in the end it might not leave you with long lasting memories. For a night of classic film storytelling, this is not a waste of time at all.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
