A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 to 10): 6.6
United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: wide release 8/11/95 Running Length: 1:42 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Sexual themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Giancarlo Giannini, Anthony Quinn, Angelica Aragon Director: Alfonso Arau Producers: Gil Netter, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker Screenplay: Robert Mark Kamen, Mark Miller, and Harvey Weitzman, adapted from Alessandro Blasetti's 1942 Italian film, FOUR STEPS IN THE CLOUDS Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki Music: Maurice Jarre U.S. Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Of all the different kinds of movies, love stories are likely to provoke the widest variety of reaction, since personal preference is such a crucial element in evaluating these films. It's far easier to agree on what constitutes a solid drama or enjoyable comedy than an effective romance. Scenes which melt some hearts will churn the stomachs of others. A WALK IN THE CLOUDS, director Alfonso Arau's followup to LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, is such a picture. There are moments when this movie is absolutely magical, but the ending lays it on much too thick.
For more than an hour, A WALK IN THE CLOUDS is thoroughly enchanting. With spectacular visuals and a script laced with little romantic touches, the first seventy-five minutes weave a spell that will dissipate the cynicism of even the grumpiest viewer. But then the melodrama, which is initially light and innocuous, asserts its presence and draws the film into a ponderously silly climax. Even the most beautifully-realized love story can't camouflage this kind of flaw.
The story opens in 1945 San Francisco. Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves) has just returned from the war, where he received a medal for courage under fire. He has a wife waiting for him -- a woman he barely knows, but whom he married on the eve of his departure to give him someone to write to and dream about. Raised in an orphanage, Paul doesn't know what it means to be part of a family, although he has fantasies. His reunion with his wife shatters those. The match which seemed so right when it happened turns out to be a horrible mistake.
Needing to clear his mind and re-think his future, Paul boards a train bound for Sacramento. There, he meets Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez- Gijon), a young woman with a beautiful smile and a sad story. Pregnant as a result of an ill-advised dalliance with a college professor, Victoria is returning to her family's vineyard to help with the annual grape harvest. Once there, she will have to reveal her condition, and she is frightened that her father, Don Pedro (Giancarlo Giannini), a man whose beliefs are deeply rooted in tradition and "the old ways", will react violently to the prospect of an unwed daughter expecting a baby. Paul, ever the gentleman, proposes a solution: he will pretend to be her husband for one day, then abandon her. She agrees, but things go farther than either of the participants anticipated. Victoria and Paul fall in love, and suddenly his marital status becomes an albatross.
With this, his first big-budget, English language picture, Arau outlines a classic case of cultural and generational conflict. Victoria has a pedigree that goes back more than four-hundred years, while Paul has no family, no past, and, in Don Pedro's opinion, no future. Roots and blood-ties are critically important in A WALK IN THE CLOUDS. Arau goes out of his way to illustrate that community and a sense of belonging are at least as important to the story as falling in love. Somehow, however, a similar message came across more clearly in Sandra Bullock's WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING.
Newcomer Aitana Sanchez-Gijon has a luminance that lights up the screen. Even paired with the rather remote and unresponsive Keanu Reeves, she makes the most of each scene. As for Reeves, he admittedly does a more credible job here than in most of his other work, but, for the most part, that's barely adequate. Screen veterans Giancarlo Giannini and Anthony Quinn both turn in virtuoso performances, the latter as the kind-hearted and helpful grandfather of the troubled Victoria; the former as her angry, inflexible father. Along with Sanchez-Gijon, they compensate for the weaknesses of the star with top billing.
As was true of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, A WALK IN THE CLOUDS has an ethereal feel. Shots of the vineyard, enhanced by post-production visual effects, are breathtaking. Arau has molded a world of romance and fantasy. One scene in particular stands out as a reflection of all that's right about the movie: the women, including the "newly married" Victoria, dance around in a giant tub of newly-harvested grapes, crushing the fruit with their feet. It is sensual, erotic, and joyous.
The most disconcerting thing about A WALK IN THE CLOUDS' tendency towards overt melodrama is that almost all of it is totally unnecessary. Minor script changes could have eliminated huge chunks of this, leaving behind an uplifting love story. Even as it is, however, there's still something special about the motion picture. I just wish the final half- hour hadn't been such a bloated disappointment.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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