The Bridges of Madison County

On May 30, 1995, Clint Eastwood's "The Bridges of Madison County" premiered in Burbank, California. Three days after the premiere, this film was shown in 1805 cinemas in the United States and Canada.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. The novel was written in 1991 in just 11 days and was the first work of fiction by the 52-year-old business Ph.D. As a successful economics professor and director of the Institute for International Business at the University of Northern Iowa, Waller never considered a career in writing. He wrote the novel to give to his friends. However, one of his friends was so impressed with the manuscript that he asked if he could try to get a literary agent interested in the work. Waller later received a fateful call from a New York agent who asked, "Robert, where have you been all my life?"

And then, even before the publication of the novel, the film company Amblin Entertainment, founded by Steven Spielberg, acquired the film rights to the novel for 25 thousand dollars. Initially, Spielberg planned to direct the film himself, but at that moment he was very busy working on "Schindler's List". But postponing the shooting of the film was inappropriate, because after the publication the novel began to gain popularity very quickly, and it was risky to miss the moment. Spielberg first decided to entrust the production of the film to Sydney Pollack, who, in turn, was going to invite Robert Redford to play the male lead. However, Redford's candidacy did not suit the leadership of the film company Warner Bros., the main distributor of the future film. As a result, the role of Robert Kincaid - the male lead in the film - went to Clint Eastwood.

But Clint Eastwood, in love with Waller's novel, was not satisfied with only the main role in the film. He offered Terry Semel, head of Warner Bros., his vision for the film's production, which cut the film's budget by $1.5 million. This argument was decisive for Terry Semel: Eastwood was appointed director. As a director, Eastwood chose Meryl Streep for the role of his partner in the film, who at first was not even considered among the candidates for the role of Francesca. Waller himself, for example, really wanted Isabella Rossellini, the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, to play this role. Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston and even singer Cher were also considered among the candidates. And the candidacy of Meryl Streep was offered to Eastwood by his mother, Ruth Wood.

The film was shot in 36 days, 10 days ahead of schedule. And this allowed the film to save even more money. The film was a huge success with the audience. With a budget of $24 million, worldwide box office receipts exceeded $182 million, of which $71.5 million was earned in the US and over $110 million in other countries. Perhaps the reason for the popularity of this film is that, according to the famous American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum,

"film makes a plausible conservative argument for adultery as a preserver of marriage."

The film turned out to be a box office success not only in itself, but also spurred readers' interest in Waller's novel. If by the time filming began, the book had been published with a total circulation of 9.5 million copies, then after the release of the film, the total circulation of the novel worldwide exceeded 60 million copies, making the novel one of the top bestsellers of the 20th century.

And Clint Eastwood's film "The Bridges of Madison County" did not have a serious festival success. So, in early 1996, the film received two Golden Globe nominations, including in the Best Motion Picture - Drama category. But the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave preference to Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility". The company of "relative losers" for the Eastwood's film was the picture "Braveheart" by Mel Gibson. The American Film Academy awarded the picture only one nomination - Best Actress in a Leading Role, but Meryl Streep did not receive an Oscar.

Also in 1996, "The Bridges of Madison County" was nominated for a César Award in the Best Foreign Film category. But the French Film Academy gave its award to Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom". "The Usual Suspects" by Bryan Singer and the "Underground" by Emir Kusturica were in company with the Clint Eastwood film. A similar situation arose in the dispute over the Japanese Academy Film Awards. "The Bridges of Madison County" was again nominated in the Best Foreign Film category. But the championship was given to the film "The Shawshank Redemption" by Frank Darabont. And again, the company of the picture of Clint Eastwood was more than worthy: "Forrest Gump" by Robert Zemeckis and "Leon" by Luc Besson.

The opinion of leading film critics, both American and Russian, turned out to be surprisingly solidary and, on the whole, coinciding with the assessment of the film by the cinematographic community. Both Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli gave the film three and a half out of four stars, while Rita Kempley of The Washington Post described Eastwood's film as

"old-fashioned" women's film "that pits the heroine's romantic urges against her matriarchal duties",

thereby admitted that some part of the male audience may not like the film. The aforementioned Jonathan Rosenbaum in his review noted:

"Clint Eastwood resurrects the star system, the Hollywood love story, and middle-aged romance, but despite all his craft and sincerity, he and screenwriter Richard LaGravenese can’t quite turn Robert James Waller’s cardboard best-seller into flesh and bone."

Russian film critic Yevgeny Nefyodov gave the film 7 points out of 10. Noting the touching and sublime sentimentality inherent in the film, he writes that the film is something more than just a melodrama.

"Clint Eastwood, like the great Briton David Lean in "The Brief Encounter" /1945/, depicting, it would seem, the situation with an ordinary, vulgar adultery, imperceptibly comes to the key question - the meaning of human existence. Moreover, Time itself, if not perceived as a full-fledged actor , then - is invisibly present in every frame: in the sunlight illuminating the Madison bridges and the surrounding area, in the scenery of the Johnson farm and the provincial town located next door, in the air ... Love, even restrained, under-manifested, hidden from others, is still able to have a beneficial effect , forcing Francesca's children not only to overcome internal prejudices, to understand the depth of their mother's feelings, but also to learn important things in their own lives."

The ratings of Clint Eastwood's "The Bridges of Madison County" by modern moviegoers are indicated by the ratings on the IMDB and Kinopoisk websites. 63% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users around the world rated the film from 8 to 10, ...moreover, if in the US the average rating of this film is 7.4, in other countries - 7.7, then in Russia - 8. Well, they love melodramas in Russia.

Based on the above, Clint Eastwood's "The Bridges of Madison County" received a FilmGourmand rating of 8,095, placing it at number 595 in the Golden Thousand.