The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

This film won the Adelaide International Film Festival's Audience Choice Award, and for good reason.

This is beautiful story-telling; it's subtle, beautifully paced and visually magnificent. And if whoever wrote comment number one couldn't find subtext then he must have been watching a different film.

I'm hoping against hope for an Australian release in the near future.

For those who never read the book, this movie is enjoyable and thought-provoking on a human and environmental level. Even though there are "love stories" involved, there is also murder and a leopard hunt. I was very pleased with this version of Luis Supulveda's thoughtful, beautifully written story. Richard Dreyfuss really brought his character's personality to life. The Mayor was just as awful as expected, and enough of the story was brought forward to make it cohesive while maintaining poignancy and point. Thoroughly enjoyable.

The scenes are gritty, beautiful. It has humor in the right places. You may feel horror, sadness, and contentment.

A great story told with heart and skill. It took a while to recognize Mr. Dreyfuss. Engaging, evocative . Saw it at a festival where Mr. de Heer shared his copy. Need to see it again - I hope it gets some kind of release. I can still smell the moist jungle atmosphere, the exquisite emotion of the pacing of events. The dentist is a character to remember! Rolf de Heer outdid himself this time. If you loved "Bubby" and " Ten Canoes" , "The Old Man Who Read Loved Sories" is a must-see. The camera is your narrator, and creates a visual feast revealing a tale of passion and perseverance. My strongest memories of the film are visceral. Its physicality,sensuality, spice, hot, wet, fragrant, wet, green, dark, wet - did I say "wet" yet? texture has stayed with me for years.

The strange thing about the reviews and comments that I've read about this movie was that they were all bordering on the negative. It is a wonderful film, so different just because it is about an old man who remembers that he can read and how the only books that he can get are love stories which help him put his world into a new perspective. Not quite alone in the Amazonian jungle for years, we are told a bit of his history in cleverly inserted flashbacks. The roles of the slovenly village Mayor (Timothy Spall), the itinerant dentist (Hugo Weaving)and the beautiful village girl (Cathy Tyson) are all so well played that the viewer is drawn in as part of the the story like a voyeur. When the film had ended I just wished to see more. Being a fan of Richard Dreyfuss was a definite plus but overall this gentle film was very enjoyable and I'd see it again and again.

Watching this movie I tried my best to experience the subtext, only - everything was so spelled out and manipulative, there was nothing for me to do. De Heer obviously doesn't trust an audience when it comes to interpreting characters. Every single one was simply in the film for the sake of highlighting Dreyfuss' character. Nothing more. This is the type of movie where the director's arm leaps out of the screen and clenches your face, telling you where to look, what to feel and how exactly to react. Give us some credit, Rolf!