A WALK IN THE CLOUDS

(1995)

Notes: 20 Century Fox. 102 minutes.
Paul Sutton: Keanu Reeves
Victoria Aragon: Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Don Pedro: Giancarlo Giannini
Alberto Aragon: Anthony Quin

Director: Alfonso Arau
Producers: Gil Netter, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
Screenplay: Robert Mark Kamen, Mark Miller, and Harvey Weitzman
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Music: Maurice Jarre
Adapted from Four Steps in the Clouds (1942)


Summary: Paul Sutton has returned home from the war in 1945. Surprisingly, his wife does not show up to meet him when he debarks from his ship. Upon arriving at their apartment he is dismayed to learn that she didn't read more than a few of the hundreds of letters that he sent her. Before she awakens the next morning he leaves. This is when he runs into Victoria Aragon. For some reason he keeps running into her: is it fate or poor writing? He learns that she is terrified to return home because she is pregnant and her father will probably kill her. So being a gentleman Sutton agrees to pose as her husband for one day and leave the next, thus allowing her to explain her pregnancy without shame. However, whenever Sutton attempts to leave, Alberto Aregon pulls Paul aside for a conversation that ends up keeping him on the vineyard for another day. This same formula is replayed more than once and the longer that Paul and Victoria stay together the more obvious it becomes to the viewer that they are falling in love.


Commentary: There are only a few food moments but they stand out. The first food scene treats us to a shot of all the women hard at work in the kitchen preparing a meal. The next scene is the consumption of this dinner. This scene contains a short clip that shows some delicious looking pheasants. One also learns that the recipe for the soup they are eating has been in the family for hundreds of years. These short scenes just barely allow this film to be considered an honorable mention as a food film. Also, this film was directed by Alfonso Arua, the director of Like Water for Chocolate and contains some scenes that are quite similar to Like Water for Chocolate.


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