Imagine
a director knowing that a film he or
she is going to make has been
adapted from someone else’s work and
must therefore be treated with the
utmost respect to the author’s
original literary intentions. The
thought must be nerve-wracking on
any level.
Now, imagine if that work was
considered by many literary critics
as one of the most adored love
stories of the 20th
century. Director Mike Newell knows
exactly how pressure like that
feels.
Newell, director of
“Four Wedding and a Funeral” and
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire,” found himself in this
position of great responsibility
when he signed on to direct Nobel
Prize winner Gabriel García
Márquez’s 1985 novel Love in the
Time of Cholera.
The story follows the heartbreaking
tale of Florentino Ariza (Javier
Bardem), a young man who is scorned
by love and dedicates his entire
life to the woman who has broken his
heart.
Via phone from his hotel in New York
City, Newell talked
about passing notes with Márquez
during production, shooting the film
in English rather than in the
novel’s original Spanish language
and what a peculiar title like
Love in the Time of
Cholera
means to him.
When did you first
read Gabriel García Márquez’s novel
Love in the Time of Cholera?
I read it when it first came out 20
years ago. Twenty years later, I
read it again and was bowled over by
the incredible writing. I
rediscovered how humane, generous,
and loving [Marquez] is to the
characters without being
sentimental.
Is that what resonated with you the
most?
What resonated with me the most –
and part of it was personal – was
that my parents lived to be very old
and had a successful 60-year
marriage. I was very interested in
the emotion of “whole lives.” I
could look back in photograph albums
and see [my parents] as children and
see them on their wedding day and
then as old people. I knew where the
wrinkles came from. I knew where the
rough patches had been. I was very
sensitized towards this … and found
that irresistible.
Were you given the opportunity to
meet Márquez and talk to him about
the film adaptation?
I didn’t. While we were making the
film he was very sick. He now is
not, but during that time he
wouldn’t leave Mexico City. So, we
communicated by notes. In
particular, when he read the first
draft of the script, he was very
complimentary. He said, “You’re too
respectful. You should kick the book
around more.” I pinned these first
notes onto my wall and they became a
sort of Bible for me.
Has he seen the movie and, if so,
what was his response?
He finally saw the movie about eight
weeks ago. The lights went up and
his whole family was there. He stood
up and like a footballer who just
scored he punched the air over his
head. When he turned around he had
this big grin. Then he offered to
write all the Spanish subtitles.
Was it ever an idea to shoot the
film in Spanish? If so, what brought
you to the final decision to keep it
in English?
It was never thought of that way. We
had a very interesting response to
it. It was not done that way because
this film is made with Hollywood
money and Hollywood money says that
it wants the film to be made in
English. I expected there to be some
sort of backlash. But Latinos are
delighted to see it in English.
Somehow it brings [the story] out of
South America. When South Americans
see it, I think they feel like they
have joined some kind of world
community. It’s the strangest thing.
I’m sure part of that is because you
are able to give the story new life
with the score that you chose. Talk
to me about using some of Shakira’s
music and what that brought to the
film.
Every [composer] wanted to be part
of the film. When I listened to
their work it would sound Colombian,
but it wouldn’t sound like the novel
to me. People were beginning to get
impatient and my office started
filling up with CDs because I hadn’t
chosen anyone yet. One day, someone
came into the office and asked,
“Does it sound like this?” They
played me this mysterious, sad love
song. I said, “Yes, that’s exactly
what it is!” I asked, “Who is that?”
They said, “That is Shakira.” For
me, it became the imprint sound of
the film.
What does the
title Love in the Time of Cholera
mean to you?
What I came to believe is that love
is life and cholera is death. [Márquez]
is saying that life is a death
sentence. Even though that is true
for all of us, the question is: “Are
you going to live for all the
opportunities that you do have?” He
puts life into every sentence of his
book with detail, atmosphere and
texture.
With the popularity of this book –
especially being named to lists like
Oprah’s Book Club last month – does
that put added pressure on you as a
director to get it right?
Absolutely, I think it does. We’ve
always been expecting for people to
come to us and say, “Where’s this
bit and that bit?” and sometimes
they do. It’s definitely big
pressure. The book is so personal to
so many people in so many different
ways, it was a frightening thing.
