I too wish it had been made in spanish. I hope someday soon that still happens. Mike Newell is a great director and he did a lot of good things in this movie. But the casting I think doomed it. Javier is great, yet Im not sure he was ideal for this. John L who played fermina's father I think would have been a better choice, especially the younger version. The biggest problem is the female lead, which should have included names at the time such as salma and penelope, went for an italian woman with questionable acting chops. For the life of me I cannot figure out how/why during the prime of the careers of salma hayek and penelope cruz one of them was not chosen. Certainly there are other latina and spanish actresses who could have been on that list. To the point I have tried to click around to find out how and why this casting decision was made but have found nothing. Even catalina moreno who played a small role would have been a pretty good choice for the lead.
I'll defend Bratt a bit; I think he delivered what the production called for.....but.......again, had it been made in spanish a different selection would have been better.
It is not fair to compare a classic novel to a 2 hour movie. I think the structure of the movie was as good as could be. The language was more an issue than the structure.
I'll defend Bratt a bit; I think he delivered what the production called for.....but.......again, had it been made in spanish a different selection would have been better.
It is not fair to compare a classic novel to a 2 hour movie. I think the structure of the movie was as good as could be. The language was more an issue than the structure.