Elegy (2008)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writers (WGA):

Nicholas Meyer (screenplay)
Philip Roth (novel)

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher. |

Plot Keywords:

Party | Older Man Younger Woman | Fear Of Commitment | Female Nudity | Commitment

Awards:

1 nomination

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Sonja Bennett	...	Beth
Patricia Clarkson	...	Carolyn
Penélope Cruz	...	Consuela Castillo
Antonio Cupo	...	Consuela's imagined lover
Michelle Harrison	...	Student #1
Deborah Harry	...	Amy O'Hearn
Dennis Hopper	...	George O'Hearn
Chelah Horsdal	...	Susan Reese
Marci T. House	...	Nurse
Alessandro Juliani	...	Actor #3 in Play
Ben Kingsley	...	David Kepesh
Laura Mennell	...	Cute Girl
Shaker Paleja	...	Kris Banjee
Kris Pope	...	Consuela's Brother
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Kenneth Kepesh

Also Known As:

Elegy: Dying Animal (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

Germany:108 min (Berlin International Film Festival) | Canada:113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (35 mm version)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Ireland:16 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Lakeshore Entertainment

Quotes:

David Kepesh: When you make love to a woman you get revenge for all the things that defeated you in life.

Movie Connections:

References North by Northwest (1959)

Soundtrack:

Déjame Recordar

Ben Kingsley gives another Oscar-worthy performance

'Elegy' is a small, yet powerful film for adults. Focusing on a relationship between a well-respected college professor (Ben Kingsley) and his former student (Penelope Cruz), 'Elegy' shows the audience a multi-faceted, complex man whose past experiences with women and his own family have dampered his ability to participate in a healthy relationship with a woman he is truly infatuated with.

The film was carried by a masterful performance by Kingsley, who successfully portrayed Kepesh as a complex man with complex relationships. His desire and lust for Cruz was so emotional and real that I believed it for every second until the very end. Kingsley was able to spark empathy with the audience as a victim of numerous losses in his life: his wife, family, son, best friend, love interest (Cruz), and most importantly, it was his loss of youth that made Kepesh the man he is when we first meet him.

I truly believed his internal struggles with adapting to life as a man romantically involved with a much younger woman (30 years his junior).