Del Amor y Otros Demonios (Of Love and Other Demons) is one of Colombian 1982 Nobel Prize of Literature winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s most beautiful love stories. It is the tale of Sierva Maria, a 13-year old girl living in a Colonial Colombia at a time when the Catholic Church had indisputable authority and when anything that couldn’t be easily understood would be attributed to the doings of the Devil. When Sierva Maria is bitten by a dog believed to be rabid and she is taken in by a fever, the town’s Bishop decides she must be interned in a convent and arrangements to be made for an exorcism. Cayetano Delaura, a young priest and pupil of the Bishop, is assigned to the task. It is while trying to find a demon to exorcise that more powerful ones develop – love, desire, the recognition of ignorance, and the sufferings imposed by people with power.
Costa Rican screenwriter and director Hilda Hidalgo has now adapted Garcia Marquez’s story for the big screen in a film, by the book’s title, that will be presented at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF). Hidalgo, who graduated as director at the International Film and Television School in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, has directed short films and documentaries in Costa Rica and around the world, with Of Love and Other Demons being her first feature film.
Colombian new actress Eliza Triana plays Sierva Maria with Spanish actor Pablo Derqui as Cayetano Delaura. Along with the main characters, the cast is comprised by talented actors from Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and Cuba. The film, which is presented from an interesting feminine perspective, was filmed in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, under the production of Argentinean Laura Imperiale, already known for other acclaimed films such as El Crimen del Padre Amaro, Nicotina, and more.
The lighting techniques used by photography director Marcelo Camorino, including scenes in chiaroscuro and inspired in the art works of Italian painter Caravaggio, make the production appear at times a painting in itself. The artful visuals are well accompanied by a musical score by Costa Rican composer Fidel Gamboa, who was directed to write a soundtrack using no more than two or three instruments in a Baroque-inspired structure.
The result of the combined elements is a beautiful film that brings to life the world that Garcia Marquez imagined and that will be a delight particularly to those who are already fans of this author's craft.
Of Love and Other Demons is 97 minutes long, in Spanish with English subtitles. It will be shown Friday June 18 at 9.45 pm at Regal 9, Sunday June 20 at 7.15 pm at Regal 9, and Monday June 21 at 4.45 pm at Regal 8, as part of the 2010 LAFF, happening at downtown's LA Live.
The LAFF starts June 17 and will continue until June 27. For more information and to pre-purchase tickets visit http://www.lafilmfest.com
Learn more about the film at http://www.ofloveandotherdemons.com
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Amazing! Thanks for the info. Cuando vamos?
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