| |
Based on Isabel Allende's best-selling novel. South America, 1926. Esteban (Jeremy Irons) falls in love with Rosa, the daughter of a rich man. Before the two marry,
Rosa is killed by poison meant for her father. When he returns to the city 20 years later, he meets Rosa's younger sister
Clara (Meryl Streep), now a woman with telekinetic abilities. Esteban and Clara marry and have a daughter, Blanca (Winona Ryder). When the country is in the throes
of revolution, Blanca falls in love with the son of one of Esteban's foremen (Antonio Banderas), much to her father's
dismay. Love and War will change the Trueba family forever. |
Directed by:
Written by:
Produced by:
Running Time:
Original Release:
Box Office:
Cast & Characters: |
Bille August
Isabel Allende (novel), Bille August (screenplay)
Bernd Eichinger
141 minutes
October 21, 1993 (Germany)
$6,265,311 (USA)
Jeremy Irons (Esteban Trueba), Meryl Streep (Clara), Glenn Close (Ferula), Winona Ryder (Blanca), Antonio Banderas (Pedro), Maria Conchita Alonso (Transito), Vincent Gallo (Esteban Garcia), Jan Niklas (Satigny), Sarita Choudhury (Pancha), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Severo DelValle), Vanessa Redgrave (Nivea DelValle), Teri Polo (Rosa), Grace Jane Gummer (Young Clara), Joaquin Martinez (Segundo)
|
Related Photos
Production Notes
Based on Isabel Allende's bestselling book "La casa de los espíritus", the story details the life of the Trueba family,
spanning four generations, and tracing the post-colonial social and political upheavals of the Latin American country they
live in. The story is told mainly from the perspective of two protagonists (Esteban and Alba - who's Blanca's daughter and
plays only a minor role in the film) and incorporates elements of magic realism. The book was first conceived by Isabel
Allende when she received news that her one hundred year-old grandfather was dying, and she began to write him a letter
that ultimately became the starting manuscript of "The House of the Spirits". The rights were bought by German producer
Bernd Eichinger who helmed the international production of the movie adaptation with the German Neue Constantin Film,
under the direction of Danish Bille August. Jeremy Irons was the first actor on board, and with his help Meryl Streep and
Glenn Close, two of his former co-stars, joined the family saga.
I worked with Meryl Streep on "The House of the Spirits". I always thought actors had to be really
depressed or moody or anguished to be great, but she was completely fine and had her family and came to work and did an
amazing job and she wasn't that way. I remember that being a really big deal to me. And I was like, 'Wow, I can actually
be happy and be good at the same time!' (Winona Ryder, Elle Magazine, June 2009)
While the film won some minor awards, mostly in Germany (Bavarian Film Awards, German Film Awards, Golden Screen), it was
viewed as a critical failure (two oft-cited reasons were its diffusely episodic structure and a cast of mostly Anglo American
actors in Latin American roles) and a box office bomb (it made back only $6.2 million of its $40 million budget).
Links & Research
|
