You are here:

Love in the Time of Cholera

Name: Love in the Time of Cholera
Director: Mike Newell
Released: 2007
Duration: 139 min

Representation Score

4.9/10

Fair

2007

Director

Mike Newell

Runtime

139 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film functions as a traditional period drama emphasizing romantic fatalism over systemic change. It captures the decay of colonial structures through a lens of obsession. While it offers a sophisticated look at human devotion and the erosion of social hierarchies, it remains within conventional narrative boundaries. The film reflects the era's social constraints without significantly challenging them. Ultimately, it excels in period texture but lacks substantial representation of non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth identities or diverse ability to act outside the aristocratic class.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Love in the Time of Cholera have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The story focuses solely on the romantic relationship between Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, without depicting any same-sex intimacy.

How does Love in the Time of Cholera portray gender?

Fair

Fermina Daza shows significant independence, breaking the damsel in distress cliché through her marriage decisions. However, the film still emphasizes traditional romantic roles and male-driven ability to act.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Love in the Time of Cholera?

Fair

The society depicted is marked by strict racial and class divisions, focusing mainly on the upper-class aristocracy despite the presence of a colonial hierarchy.

How does Love in the Time of Cholera represent religion and culture?

Good

The film challenges traditional Christian morality by portraying obsessive, unfaithful passion as a romantic pursuit. It uses disease and aging to critique the stability of Western social institutions.

Does Love in the Time of Cholera include disability representation?

Minimal

Illness and aging are used as plot devices rather than exploring the lived experiences of those with disabilities.

Present on Screen

Fermina Daza provides a nuanced portrayal of female independence within 19th-century social hierarchies.
The narrative offers a subtle critique of Western social institutions through metaphors of disease and decay.
The film effectively explores the complexities of human devotion and moral relativism.

Limited or Absent

The story lacks any representation of LGBTQ+ identities or same-sex intimacy.
The narrative focus remains heavily centered on the upper-class, limiting the visibility of non-white ability to act.
Disability and illness are used as plot devices rather than meaningful explorations of lived experience.

Official Synopsis

In Colombia just after the Great War, an old man falls from a ladder; dying, he professes great love for his wife. After the funeral, a man calls on the widow - she dismisses him angrily. Flash back more than 50 years to the day Florentino Ariza, a telegraph boy, falls in love with Fermina Daza, the daughter of a mule trader.

How are these scores produced? →