Actors: Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Rodrigo Santoro, Molly Parker
Director: Philip Kaufman
Studio: HBO Home Entertainment
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Run Time: 154 minutes
Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
I am not a subscriber to HBO but I really love their programming. There films and TV series are so original, bold and frankly, quite ballsy. “Hemingway & Gellhorn” was nominated for 15 Emmy® Awards and 2 Golden Globe Awards. I hadn’t heard of this release before the award season but I was drawn to it by its stunning lead cast including Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman and Golden Globe winner Clive Owen. The film recounts the romance between literary legend Ernest Hemingway and famed war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. The film runs over two a half hours and yet I was unable to take my eyes of the screen the entire time.
Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen both give phenomenal performances. They are have great chemistry and really brings the sexy, yet dramatic aspects to their characters. They are assisted with a great and very impressive supporting cast including David Strathairn, Rodrigo Santoro, Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Mark Pellegrino, Peter Coyote, Tony Shalhoub and even Jeffrey Jones makes an appearance. This is a real ensemble and everyone contributes to the success of this film. But honestly, I am not very surprised since when it comes to HBO, they never disappoint and almost always deliver great talent.
Official Premise: Hemingway & Gellhorn recounts one of the greatest romances of the last century – the passionate love affair and tumultuous marriage of literary master Ernest Hemingway and trailblazing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn – as it follows the adventurous writers through the Spanish Civil War and beyond. The combined magnetism of Hemingway and Gellhorn ushered them into social circles that included the elite of Hollywood, the aristocracy of the literary world and the First Family of the United States. As witnesses to history, they covered all the great conflicts of their time, but the war they couldn’t survive was the war between themselves.
HBO is really this film as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and the Blu-ray is very impressive. The 1080p transfer really transports you back in time and really looks sharp. The film has this raw feel when it most through its timeline and switching between war-time footage. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track works perfectly with the dialogue and the action in the film. The special features are also worth checking out. There is a very interesting audio commentary with director Philip Kaufman and editor Walter Murch Making. There are two featurettes including “Making Hemingway & Gellhorn” who looks into the all aspects of the production and also “Behind the Visual Effects” has the cast and crew discuss the effects and keeping it with the historical accurate.
