Having read the novel, I was curious to see how it would be made into a film. I had high hopes, because the book was extremely poignant and well-written. However, these hopes were dashed within the first five minutes of this truly awful movie.Now, I'm a fan of both Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Connelly. I think they're great actors. However, Of Love and Shadows brought out the worst in both. The acting was hideous and essentially consisted of Jennifer Connelly using an awful accent while making bedroom eyes at Antionio Banderas, who did the same (but with a much better accent).Aside from the terrible performances, the real flaw of this film was that it tried to incorporate too much of the book into too small a time frame. There is a good deal of fantastic material in the book, but there is simply too much to be done on screen. What seems to have happened is that the makes didn't exactly realize this and consequently tried to hold on to too many secondary characters and too many story lines. The result was less than satisfactory. I was entirely convinced that anyone who hadn't read the book before seeing the movie would have been completely lost.In short, I seriously pity Isabel Allende for this horribly botched movie which is entirely unrepresentative of the excellent book she wrote. Do not watch this movie. Read the book.

In this movie a young (24) Jennifer Connelly plays a Spanish speaking lady, Irene, in Chile, working as a magazine reporter, during the time when the country was being ruled by a military dictatorship. A perpetual "state of emergency" has been declared, and opposition are hunted down, killed, and the bodies hidden. Irene has been engaged since they were children to her cousin, Gustavo. While they carry on erotically like young lovers anywhere, there does not appear to be the mystery and passion of "discovered" love. Along comes Irene's discovery, Francisco (Antonio Banderas, 34), trained as a Psychologist but now trying to get a legitimate job as a photographer. Irene hires him.Francisco and his family, which includes a priest, are out to expose the crimes of the military regime, and is able to get Irene involved in an investigation. Breaking out of her thus-far sheltered life, she is anxious to help get to the bottom of all this, while she is realizing that she doesn't love Gustavo.SPOILERS. As crimes are being exposed and it becomes known that Irene is involved, she is gunned down in the street, but manages to survive. Military is watching the hospital, but after she has shown some improvement she is sneaked out, she and Francisco manage to stay for 10 days at a spa in the mountains where she can gain strength, and they leave on horseback as the military show up looking for them. They eventually get to Spain, where they live for 15 years, and are able to return to Chile in 1989, after a democracy is restored.

This is very good film, accurate depiction of historical events of this South American country. A must see. Writer Isabel Allende has done a fantastic recount of many facts and events of the Dictatorship that plagued this country. Jennifer's part is played in a very natural, and sexy portrait, of the fresh, sexy, and Latin American spirit of people, with ideals, and lust for life and freedom. Antonio Banderas, still not a superstar, plays the Dr, and new photographer, with convictions. He does a great job on this film, and is nice to see a still not Hollywood viced acting, and superstar status actor, doing a pretty good job. The director of photography captures the spirit of a time and era, where the air was thick, and people were afraid. The "ejercito" was omnipresent at every moment, in and out of people's life's. A must see film, for lovers of foreign films, and to followers of Latin American History.

This was a great film!Granted, the acting may not be tip-top and the casting may have its flaws, but I thought that this was a great film, and it's about time we have more films bring to life the atrocities that occurred in Chile. By acquiring more knowledge about the world around us, we can try to ensure that we don't repeat the same mistakes over and over.I really thought the film was great!