Of Love and Shadows (1994)
Irene is a magazine editor living under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Francisco is a handsome photographer and he comes to Irene for a job. As a sympathizer with the underground resistance movement, Francisco opens her eyes and her heart to the atrocities being committed by the state.
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Sorry, this movie sucks
An action-packed slog
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Irene (Jennifer Connelly) is a daughter of privilege in 1970's Chile. It is a time of government repression and citizens of Chile are turning up missing, never to be found. Working as a magazine writer, Irene meets photographer Francisco (Antonio Banderas). Francisco is a passionate young man with a dangerous secret: he is working for an underground movement investigating the government's actions. Although Irene is engaged to a man in the military, she falls in love with Francisco and joins him in his underground activities. Will they be able to expose the misdeeds of the government and remain alive?This movie is based on a novel by Chilean-born author Isabel Allende. Her political views are to the left; yet, this film is not totally biased. Real events occured under Chilean leader Pinochet, who eventually was deposed. This movie, therefore, offers a glimpse into the horrific tortures and deaths at the hands of the Chilean government in the seventies. Not as exciting as it could be, the film nevertheless provides enough drama and pathos to touch the hearts of its viewers. Connelly and Banderas give fine performances that resonate. Recommended for fans of the two leads as well as those who admire films with a political agenda.
This movie is not only bad but also downright annoying. Acting is weak and the characters are not convincing. You don't need to have lived in a Latin American country under dictatorship to notice the caricatural overplaying of roles. And it's not because the story is so obviously biased towards the leftist cause in Latin America (totally expected, being based on a book by Isabel Allende): Costa-Gavras was able to make good movies in spite of ideology. The funniest thing however is that the movie in reality, and unintentionally, ends up showing a face of Latin-American politics that is extremely depressing: the left and the right are both so empty-headed that not only you're incapable of feeling any sympathy for them, but even worse, it makes you believe that now you finally understood why Latin-American countries have so much trouble governing themselves. It's a really sad movie.
Isabel Allende is not the greatest writer of all time, still she has a magic touch, of that there is no doubt..A woman that has fought all of her life, gives us the pleasure to enjoy her experience in this beautiful story (as are all of her stories), that brings together two great actors (Antonio and Jennifer), and almost makes us want to be part of it,despite the danger..these were the true heroes of our time, i think that's what she's really stating, by using simplicity as a way of being, a way of life, and showing us that it can also be beautiful.. A true love story.
This was a great film!Granted, the acting may not be tip-top and the casting may have its flaws, but I thought that this was a great film, and it's about time we have more films bring to life the atrocities that occurred in Chile. By acquiring more knowledge about the world around us, we can try to ensure that we don't repeat the same mistakes over and over.I really thought the film was great!