Of Love and Other Demons is based on the famous novel of the same name, by Gabriel García Márquez. His authorship has earned him the 1982 Nobel prize in literature, and while he didn't pen this novel until twelve years afterwards (and thus it had no influence on him getting the laureate) it is still one of those books whose story feels revolutionary and inspiring. It is one of those books that one, in giddy exhilaration, simply wants to share with the whole world. Unsurprisingly, someone wanted to share it by putting it on the big screen.
Unfortunately, while the adaptation is largely faithful to the original story, its faithfulness is is only relevant to the final half of the book simply because the film ignores nearly everything from the first half. In the book, the first half introduces the characters, gives us their positions in life, and the relationships between them. These things are essential, but excluded from the movie. Also, as I am now going to try to introduce the plot, I would like to mention that by doing so I will, due to the movie's discarding of the first half of the tale, be presenting spoilers to those who would prefer to read it first.
Somewhere - presumably in a Spanish colony in the New World, which we can guess from the language spoken and that 'the world', likely referring to Europe, is said to lie on the other side of the ocean – there is a young lady with long red hair. She is accompanied by another young woman, a slave. The red haired one we eventually learn is the daughter of a local Marquis. We get to see glimpses of the Marquis and his wife, but they are otherwise anonymous - which is rather odd since their strange personalities actually play a major role in why things turn out the way they do. The daughter of the Marquis is bitten by a rabid dog, her slave companion helps her home and tends to the wounds using medicinal plants. The local bishop hears of the bite and draws the conclusion that the young girl must be possessed. Why? There is a why but the movie decided to skip that part too, despite how centrally important it is to understand the remaining plot. (Also, the young lady is noted to do things which one would otherwise only expect from someone with an African cultural background, i.e. slaves, but these lines lead nowhere because the movie leaves out yet another essential part of the introduction.) In any case, the bishop thinks she might be possessed - Heaven knows why! From the movie, I'd blame it on early onset dementia. - and she is sent to the local convent to be treated by the nuns. To treat her, on the bishop's behalf, a young priest is sent, named Cayetano. Slowly a love blossoms between the two.
And that is what this movie boils down the tale to, a love story in unusual circumstances. This is utterly insufficient in light of how much of the original tale that is devoted to connecting this tale and its surrounding tragedies to the time period in which it takes place. The historical commentary of the book roars, deafening the love story, and presenting us with what the title depicts as 'other demons.' These 'other demons' - power, superstition, envy, cruelty, elitism, to name a few - are every bit as important to this tale as the "demon" of pure affection. Unfortunately, all of this was left out, and since the love story is so deeply entwined with what never made it to the manuscript, it is also left in a severely crippled state.
Perhaps the historical commentary was left out to make the movie more palatable? Not unlikely as they did the same with Sierva María. (Who? Well, in the book the red headed young lady actually had a name.) In the movie she is portrayed as being around twenty years of age. The odd thing is that while she moves and behaves like a young lade of that age, her lines often sound like they are made by a much younger girl. If the bishop has Alzheimer then perhaps she has a developmental challenge? No, the reason is that in the book she was twelve when it all began (but turns thirteen around the time she was sent to the convent), and while the movie tries to make her seem older so that the inappropriate love story becomes less inappropriate (the recent focus on the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church might be the reason for this), they didn't change her lines correspondingly. The wooden enactment of the character doesn't help either.
The movie has it's good sides too. Especially the camera-work and scenery deserves praise, surpassing nine ot of ten big-budget Hollywood productions. Much of the acting is quite good as well. It's just not enough to save the movie. It leaves out so much that it requires the potential viewer to read the book first in order to know what is going on. And when the story in itself is just an inferior version of the book, why watch it at all afterwards?
Unfortunately, while the adaptation is largely faithful to the original story, its faithfulness is is only relevant to the final half of the book simply because the film ignores nearly everything from the first half. In the book, the first half introduces the characters, gives us their positions in life, and the relationships between them. These things are essential, but excluded from the movie. Also, as I am now going to try to introduce the plot, I would like to mention that by doing so I will, due to the movie's discarding of the first half of the tale, be presenting spoilers to those who would prefer to read it first.
Somewhere - presumably in a Spanish colony in the New World, which we can guess from the language spoken and that 'the world', likely referring to Europe, is said to lie on the other side of the ocean – there is a young lady with long red hair. She is accompanied by another young woman, a slave. The red haired one we eventually learn is the daughter of a local Marquis. We get to see glimpses of the Marquis and his wife, but they are otherwise anonymous - which is rather odd since their strange personalities actually play a major role in why things turn out the way they do. The daughter of the Marquis is bitten by a rabid dog, her slave companion helps her home and tends to the wounds using medicinal plants. The local bishop hears of the bite and draws the conclusion that the young girl must be possessed. Why? There is a why but the movie decided to skip that part too, despite how centrally important it is to understand the remaining plot. (Also, the young lady is noted to do things which one would otherwise only expect from someone with an African cultural background, i.e. slaves, but these lines lead nowhere because the movie leaves out yet another essential part of the introduction.) In any case, the bishop thinks she might be possessed - Heaven knows why! From the movie, I'd blame it on early onset dementia. - and she is sent to the local convent to be treated by the nuns. To treat her, on the bishop's behalf, a young priest is sent, named Cayetano. Slowly a love blossoms between the two.
And that is what this movie boils down the tale to, a love story in unusual circumstances. This is utterly insufficient in light of how much of the original tale that is devoted to connecting this tale and its surrounding tragedies to the time period in which it takes place. The historical commentary of the book roars, deafening the love story, and presenting us with what the title depicts as 'other demons.' These 'other demons' - power, superstition, envy, cruelty, elitism, to name a few - are every bit as important to this tale as the "demon" of pure affection. Unfortunately, all of this was left out, and since the love story is so deeply entwined with what never made it to the manuscript, it is also left in a severely crippled state.
Perhaps the historical commentary was left out to make the movie more palatable? Not unlikely as they did the same with Sierva María. (Who? Well, in the book the red headed young lady actually had a name.) In the movie she is portrayed as being around twenty years of age. The odd thing is that while she moves and behaves like a young lade of that age, her lines often sound like they are made by a much younger girl. If the bishop has Alzheimer then perhaps she has a developmental challenge? No, the reason is that in the book she was twelve when it all began (but turns thirteen around the time she was sent to the convent), and while the movie tries to make her seem older so that the inappropriate love story becomes less inappropriate (the recent focus on the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church might be the reason for this), they didn't change her lines correspondingly. The wooden enactment of the character doesn't help either.
The movie has it's good sides too. Especially the camera-work and scenery deserves praise, surpassing nine ot of ten big-budget Hollywood productions. Much of the acting is quite good as well. It's just not enough to save the movie. It leaves out so much that it requires the potential viewer to read the book first in order to know what is going on. And when the story in itself is just an inferior version of the book, why watch it at all afterwards?