Absolutely brilliant

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I watched this movie a few days ago for the first time, with my mother. I wasn't sure what to expect because I hadn't watched the trailer or read about the movie before. In fact, I haven't even read Isabel Allende's book. What caught my attention and made me watch it was the participation of Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, two artists that I love to see working. And what a surprise when I started talking "I've been there!" or "I know that place" while watching some scenes! To my pride, this movie was almost totally shot in Portugal. I am so used to seeing other countries in foreign films that I always feel joy and pride when I recognize my own country. And Portugal is such a beautiful country, with so much to show and so much potential that I am surprised to be so little visited by the foreign filmmakers. Maybe this will change gradually, now that John Malkovich, Madonna and Monica Belluci are living here with us...The story of this film is interesting and appealing: spanning three generations of the same family, it focuses on Clara, a woman with a psychic gift to predict the future and contact the dead, and her marriage with Esteban, a wealthy farmer who made his fortune with much effort. But the main plot is about the forbidden love story between their daughter, the idealist Blanca, and Pedro Segundo, a poor young man who, moreover, is a communist. The hostile relation between Pedro and Esteban allows the film to show the political evolution of Chile during the twentieth century, from an oligarchic and conservative republic to a military dictatorship.All these things are good but this story has some problems as well, which may (or may not) have origin in Allende's book. To begin with, I didn't like to see Clara's powers so poorly used. It's a subject with no real importance for the course of the story, and I was expecting more here. Another major problem is the simplistic way that political issues are handled. Everything is black and white, no gray areas. Communists are the good guys, fighting for freedom and people's rights, and conservatives are the bad guys, who are greedy, corrupt and oppressive. This is wrong, probably untrue and smells like leftist propaganda. In politics, things are never so simple as that. I believe, at least at this point, that the problem may be in Allende's text, for she is deeply communist and has never forgotten the brutal way her father was murdered, but even this doesn't justify the highly biased way the film deals with political subjects.Concerning the actors, I am very happy. Meryl Streep did very well, with a contained and timid performance as required by her character. However, she was damaged by the way the script deals with psychic powers of her character. Winona Ryder was beautiful, giving strength and personality to her character. However, sometimes she seems naive and, as we don't realize the beginning of her love story, it seems untrue and far-fetched sometimes. Antonio Banderas was fine but this wasn't the right movie for him to shine. His character is a hook for the biased political portrait I mentioned and to create a love story that makes everything else more digestible. Glenn Close was more unlucky, however. I never understood the purpose of her character, whose permanence on screen is brief and doesn't bring many changes to the plot. Jeremy Irons dominates the film. He was excellent, toasting the audience with an exceptional work, worthy of an Oscar. In fact, with so many stars, it's surprising how the film went unnoticed.Technically, the film also seems irreproachable. Good cinematography and an excellent soundtrack, which remained in the ear for some time after the movie ended. Of course, I really loved the choice of shooting locations, and I found it funny to see the Portuguese Army participating in the film although I wonder who paid for them, after all they are not paid to do figuration and would be very serious if that money came out of the taxpayer's pocket.This is a very good film, with a star-cast working hard to please us, beautiful sets and costumes and an appealing love story. In general, it will surely worth our attention.

it is the right word for describe the epic story, the beautiful acting, the inspired adaptation . and for the high care for details who defines each scene. story of family and choices, crisis and principles, it is a large social portrait. the traces of drama are translated in powerful images. the music, the costumes, the atmosphere - parts of a great show about the fight against history. a film about sacrifices and about need of the other. cold, strange, sentimental, cruel in few scenes. but convincing at whole. one of rare works for the emotion of viewer because it has the gift to remember dramas who escapes from history book . short - real impressive.

This film was a bomb, losing millions of dollars. And I'm not surprised. It's a very serious film which would be likely to attract a very specific and small audience. Thank goodness films like this occasionally get made.I know it sounds as if I just contradicted myself, but just because it was a bomb, didn't mean that it's not a fine film. And the strength of this film are the performances. The strongest of the performances is by Glenn Close, who plays the lead male's sister who has lesbian inclinations. She's been treated unfairly her whole life and suffers for most of it. A strong, strong performance. Next is Meryl Streep. Just about as good as always as the psychic wife of the male lead.Then we come to Jeremy Irons. Hmmmmm. I have mixed feelings here. Irons' character here is so despicable that you know he will get his comeuppance before the movie ends. Is it wise to be that obvious? To play it that "hard"? I think not. So I'll reserve judgment here simply because, typically, Irons is a wonderful actor.In supporting roles, the most notable are those of Winona Ryder as the daughter and Antonio Banderas as her poor lover. Both do great jobs. I enjoyed seeing Vanessa Redgrave and Armin Mueller-Stahl as the parents of Streep, but they didn't get enough screen time.Now as to the script. It's good...perhaps a tad slow in a few places. But character development is rather thorough. The story is of a relatively poor young man who falls in love, but works to strike gold in order to marry a relatively rich girl. He does, but she dies. So, eventually he marries her sister (Streep), who doesn't talk...by her own choice. She does talk with him, however, and for a while they have a happy life. But he is a bitter shell of a man who has become a patrone who treats pretty much everyone harshly, always insisting he is boss. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that he will get his comeuppance, but it's cleverly done here in a way that combines personal tragedy with the history of so many South American countries.Although it's never made clear in the film, the country depicted is Chile. A special note should be made of the makeup used to age the main characters. It's done very well here...a much better job than in a lot of films.I recommend this film IF you like serious movies. Otherwise, it may bore you. I found it rather compelling.

2013 - and I have never even heard of this movie !!!! What a surprise ! The Book must have been fantastic because the movie is such a journey through the lives of this Chilean family. Jeromy Irons is extremely good, Wynona Ryder plays her part well, Meryl Streep as always is excellent and to think she was only 50 at the time, she plays an excellent Matriarc, Antonia Banderas's part is limited perhaps Melanie Griffiths didn't want him too close to Wynona ???????? I thought the had great on screen appeal as a couple. all in all it is a movie I will recommend to others - simply can't believe I had not heard of it before now. If this is a true interpretation of the era in Chile, I am so glad I live in Australia.