A Walk in the Clouds

Infobox_Film
name = A Walk in the Clouds

---

caption = Original poster
director = Alfonso Arau
writer = Robert Mark Kamen
Mark Miller
Harvey Weitzman
starring = Keanu Reeves
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
>Giancarlo Giannini
Anthony Quinn
producer = Gil Netter
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
cinematography = Emmanuel Lubezki
music = Maurice Jarre
editing = Don Zimmerman
distributor = Twentieth Century Fox
released = May 27, 1995 flagicon|Japan
August 11, 1995 flagicon|USA
runtime = 102 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget = $20,000,000 (estimated)
amg_id = 1:134948
imdb_id = 0114887

"A Walk in the Clouds" is a 1995 American romantic drama film directed by Alfonso Arau. The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, Mark Miller, and Harvey Weitzman is based on the 1942 Italian film "Quattro Passi Fra Le Nuvole" by Piero Tellini, Cesare Zavattini, and Vittorio de Benedetti.

Plot synopsis

Shortly after the surrender of Japan, marking the end of World War II, United States Army Sgt. Paul Sutton returns to San Francisco to reunite with his wife Betty, whom he married - following a whirlwind courtship - the day before he departed for the Pacific. The war has left him with emotional scars, and he experiences flashbacks on a regular basis.

Paul's reunion with Betty is strained, especially after he discovers most of the letters he wrote her were set aside unopened. He is determined to make a go of the marriage however, and hopes to establish a new career for himself. Betty insists he continue to sell candy door-to-door, and he sets off to Sacramento. Enroute he meets Victoria Aragon, a Stanford University graduate student whose Mexican-American family owns a vineyard in the Napa Valley. When he learns the unmarried woman is pregnant by her professor, Paul offers to introduce himself to her very traditionalist family as her husband.

Victoria's father is infuriated, not only that she married a man below her social standing, but without his permission as well. Paul's initial plan to quietly slip away and continue on his journey, leaving Victora's family to believe he abandoned her, is derailed when her grandfather Don Pedro encourages him to stay and help with the harvest. Paul and Victoria try to ignore their growing attraction for each other. His desire to salvage his marriage prompts him to return home, where he discovers his wife is involved with another man. She has applied for an annulment, to which he readily agrees, and he returns to the Aragon estate to ask Victoria to marry him. An argument with her father leads to a disaster, but the family is certain it will recover from its loss with the help of its newest member.

Pricipal cast

*Keanu Reeves ..... Sgt. Paul Sutton
*Aitana Sánchez-Gijón ..... Victoria Aragon
*Giancarlo Giannini ..... Alberto Aragon
*Anthony Quinn ..... Don Pedro Aragon
*Angélica Aragón ..... Maria Jose Aragon
*Freddy Rodriguez ..... Pedro Aragon
*Debra Messing ..... Betty Sutton

Critical reception

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" called the film "a glorious romantic fantasy, aflame with passion and bittersweet longing. One needs perhaps to have a little of these qualities in one's soul to respond fully to the film, which to a jaundiced eye might look like overworked melodrama, but that to me sang with innocence and trust ... At a time when movies seem obligated to be cynical, when it is easier to snicker than to sigh, what a relief this film is!" [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950811/REVIEWS/508110303/1023 "Chicago Sun-Times" review] ]

Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" said, "A couple of turns of plot - including the histrionic ending - seem less magical than overwrought, but "A Walk in the Clouds" is for the most part a beautiful, well-acted and emotionally rich picture ... In this very warm-hearted film, Reeves' face is the movie's locus of kindness and decency - and he stands up to scrutiny. There's not just sweetness there but depth." [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/08/11/DD10676.DTL "San Francisco Chronicle" review] ]

Hal Hinson of the "Washington Post" called it "a phenomenally atrocious movie — so bad, in fact, that you might actually manage to squeeze a few laughs out of it ... The film has the syrupy, Kodak magic-moment look of a Bo Derek movie, and pretty much the same level of substance." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/awalkinthecloudspg13hinson_c027c0.htm "Washington Post" review] ]

"Variety" described the film as "a glossy, fairy-tale romance that's longer on wishfulness than believability" and "a modest but sharply mounted comedy/melodrama." [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117796183.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 "Variety" review] ]

Awards and nominations

Maurice Jarre won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Keanu Reeves was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor.

References

External links

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