Liebestraum (film)

Last updated
Liebestraum
Liebe101.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mike Figgis
Written byMike Figgis
Produced by Eric Fellner
Starring Kevin Anderson
Pamela Gidley
Bill Pullman
Kim Novak
Zach Grenier
Cinematography Juan Ruiz Anchía
Edited byMartin Hunter
Music byMike Figgis
Production
companies
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • September 13, 1991 (1991-09-13)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget£5 million [1]
Box office$133,645 (Domestic) [2]

Liebestraum (German for "dream of love") is a 1991 American mystery film written and directed by Mike Figgis and starring Kevin Anderson, Pamela Gidley, Bill Pullman, Zach Grenier, Alicia Witt and Taina Elg, with Kim Novak in her last film role. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Plot

Opening as the Ralston department stores closes for the night, an unseen man and woman engage in an illicit affair as a silhouetted man closes in on them. Both appear to be shot dead before the man presumably commits suicide.

Thirty years later, Nick (Kevin Anderson), a professor of architecture in upstate New York arrives in Elderstown, Illinois to be with his birth mother (Kim Novak) in the final days of her illness; he was adopted and never met her before. That night, he becomes intrigued with the building across from his hotel. On the first day, he runs into Paul (Bill Pullman), a college friend, whose construction company is demolishing an old downtown department store where a murder-suicide happened thirty years before. The building is a beautiful cast-iron construction, so Nick wants to study it before the demolition. Nick saves Paul's life when a piece of the buildings façade crumbles and Nick pushes him to safety. To say thanks, Nick is invited to a birthday party for Paul's wife, Jane.

At the party, Paul introduces Nick to his wife, Jane (Pamela Gidley), a photographer who wants to portray the same building. Over the next four days, Nick and Jane's attraction grows, as Nick explores the old building, attends his mother's bedside, and unravels the truth that links both of them with the developing events in his and Jane's life.

It is uncovered that the man shot and killed at the start of the film is Nick's father, and that the woman survived but in a fragile state. The third gunshot heard was Nick's mother killing the private investigator hired to uncover the affair. Nick and Jane, in a parallel with the man and woman in the beginning engage in an affair as well. This scene is discovered by Paul, but instead of killing the two, leaves in tears. Breaking the cycle of murder, as Nick's birth mother dies.

Cast

Home media

When Liebestraum made its VHS debut, it was released in two editions — the R-rated theatrical version and an unrated director's cut. The DVD release, part of MGM's Avant-Garde Cinema series, features only the R-rated version. However, the deleted scene that marks the single difference between the two edits is included as a bonus feature on the disc. [6]

Related Research Articles

The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.

<i>Frances</i> (film) 1982 American biographical drama film by Graeme Clifford

Frances is a 1982 American biographical drama film directed by Graeme Clifford from a screenplay written by Eric Bergren, Christopher De Vore, and Nicholas Kazan. The film stars Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, a troubled actress during the 1930s whose career suffered as a result of her mental illness. It also features Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns, Christopher Pennock, Jonathan Banks, and Jeffrey DeMunn in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Novak</span> American actress

Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Witt</span> American actress, singer, and pianist (born 1975)

Alicia Roanne Witt is an American actress, singer and pianist. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in Dune (1984) and Twin Peaks (1990). Witt was a regular on Cybill Shepherd's sitcom Cybill (1995–1998) for four seasons, playing the title character's daughter, Zoe Woodbine. She had a critically acclaimed role as a disturbed teenager in Fun (1994), appeared as a music student in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) and as a terrorized college student in the horror film Urban Legend (1998). She appeared in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Last Holiday (2006) and the thriller 88 Minutes (2007). Witt has made television appearances in The Walking Dead, The Sopranos, Nashville, Two and a Half Men, The Librarians, Friday Night Lights, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Mentalist, Justified, Twin Peaks: The Return, CSI: Miami, and Orange Is the New Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Miles</span> American actress (born 1929)

Vera June Miles is an American retired actress, best known for playing Lila Crane in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, later reprising the role in its sequel, Psycho II.

<i>Talk to Her</i> 2002 film by Pedro Almodóvar

Talk to Her is a 2002 Spanish psychological drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling, Geraldine Chaplin, and Rosário Flores. The film follows two men who form an unlikely friendship as they care for two women who are both in comas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asa Buchanan</span> Soap opera character

Asa Buchanan is a fictional character and patriarch of the Buchanan family on the American serial drama One Life to Live. The Texan industrialist father of newly arrived characters Clint and Bo Buchanan, Asa was originated in late 1979 by Philip Carey. Carey portrayed the role continually for nearly three decades, through to his final pre-taped appearance in 2008. Throughout those years, Asa's ruthless business dealings and attempts to both protect and control his family members drive much of the drama in the series.

The 14th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1956 films, were held on February 28, 1957, at the Cocoanut Grove, Ambassador Hotel.

Soul of the Game is a 1996 television film about Negro league baseball.

<i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i> (1985 TV series) American anthology series which started airing in 1985

Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986 and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated version of the 1955 eponymous series.

<i>Tuff Turf</i> 1985 teen drama movie

Tuff Turf is a 1985 American drama film directed by Fritz Kiersch and starring James Spader and Kim Richards. The film was released in the United States on January 11, 1985.

<i>Middle of the Night</i> 1959 film

Middle of the Night is a 1959 American drama film directed by Delbert Mann, and released by Columbia Pictures. It was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. It stars Fredric March and Kim Novak. The screenplay was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from his Broadway play of the same name.

The Still Point is a 1986 Australian film directed by Barbara Boyd-Anderson. Sarah, a 15-year-old girl with a hearing impairment, is trying to emerge from the sheltered world her mother has created for her. In doing this, she puts aside the self-imposed isolation of her deafness, and learns the value of her own identity.

The 65th Writers Guild of America Awards honor the best film, television, radio and video-game writers of 2012. The television and radio nominees were announced on December 6, 2012. Film nominees were announced on January 4, 2013. All winners were announced on February 17, 2013 at the JW Marriott Hotel in the L.A. Live entertainment complex.

<i>Joint Body</i> 2011 American film

Joint Body is a 2011 American crime thriller film written and directed by Brian Jun and starring Mark Pellegrino and Alicia Witt. The film is about a convict who is abandoned by his ex-wife and prevented from seeing his young daughter. As a parolee he develops a relationship with a lonely and troubled woman, whom he saves from a violent attack, killing the assailant in the process. Once more on the run, he is forced to re-evaluate his freedom as he evades the law and faces demons from his past. The film was shot on location in various small towns in southern Illinois: Alton, Wood River, East Alton, and Jerseyville. Produced by James Choi, Brian Jun, and Max Velez for 40/West, the film premiered on April 29, 2011 at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Condominium is a 1980 American two-part, four-hour made-for-television action-drama disaster film starring Barbara Eden, Dan Haggerty and Steve Forrest and featuring an ensemble cast of well-known television actors, including Ana Alicia, Richard Anderson, Ralph Bellamy, Larry Bishop, Macdonald Carey, Dane Clark, Linda Cristal, Elinor Donahue, Don Galloway, Pamela Hensley, Arte Johnson, Jack Jones, Dorothy Malone, Mimi Maynard, Lee Paul, Nehemiah Persoff, Nedra Volz, Carlene Watkins and Stuart Whitman.

<i>Supervized</i> 2019 Irish film

Supervized is a 2019 comedy superhero film, directed by Steve Barron. The film was produced by Barron and Kieran Corrigan and starring Tom Berenger, Beau Bridges, Fionnula Flanagan, Louis Gossett Jr., Elya Baskin and Fiona Glascott. It was released on July 19, 2019, in the United States, under a limited showing and on video on demand, and December 12, 2019, worldwide.

References

  1. "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 25.
  2. "Liebestraum". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  3. "Liebestraum". Turner Classic Movies . Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  4. "Kim Novak". IMDb. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  5. "Kim Novak surfaces to retrace past in boxed set". Sfgate.com. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  6. "Reel DVD Review". Archived from the original on March 22, 2004. Retrieved September 6, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), comments by Pam Grady.