Angela's Path

Author(s): Harry (Colombia) & Stefano (Italy)
Angela's Path

Distributed by: Miramax Pictures
Directed by: Jane Campion
Written by: Jane Campion and Ronald Harwood
Original Score by: Dario Marianelli
Cinematography by: Bruno Delbonnel
Production Design by: Anna Asp
Costume Design by: Jacqueline Durran
Film editing by: Hervé de Luze
Produced by: Jane Campion and Jan Chapman

Main Cast

Penélope Cruz (Angela)
Catherine Deneuve (Geneviève)
Sebastian Koch (Jorgen)
Virginie Ledoyen (Pierrette)

Tagline: She encountered desperation. She followed her path. She would never forget her story.

Synopsis: “Emotions. There are some that make us want to live, and to continue following our paths. There are others that, because of harsh consequences, go right into our most profound sensibility, making us feel desperation. I always tried to give up, but I learned that life must continue, that we must follow our paths to find a light at the end of the tunnel. I encountered happiness, but I could never forget what once was my story…” – Angela

1914. A train stops at the central station of Paris : Angela arrives to the magical city of Paris . She is an optimistic and young woman from Barcelona , and she expects to become a famous writer. Angela is received in a Literature University , where she befriends many persons and develops a strong friendship with her classmate Pierrette, who is fascinated by Voltaire’s ideals of tolerance. Her landlady Geneviève, an older and experienced woman, becomes a maternal figure to Angela, the one that she lost when she was young. Angela is fascinated by a city with such diversity; she is full of life as she discovers the essence of Paris , a city rich of ideals and freedom of expression. Angela’s studies get better every time. That is until one day, when a bomb explodes in Angela’s university, destroying the building and the lives of many of her friends. World War I had begun.

As the war gets more intense, Angela witnesses the destruction of a city that she once saw as hope for her future. She had never been as sensible and desperate as now; she tries to seek a solution and escapes from Paris with her friend Pierrette. They are then separated by a bomb and Angela looks for someone; she meets a German soldier named Jorgen. He locks Angela in a room and asks her to listen to his story; Angela becomes a solitary woman, as she learns the sad life of Jorgen. He was a man who once believed in dialogue, but his parents didn’t have enough money to pay to the government so Jorgen had to go to war. It had been too much for him, as he saw the true misery of the world during hard times. Angela is very hungry and scared, and she begins to lose every hope about the future. Wanting to express her agony, she starts writing verses about her pain on the walls of the small room; she also writes poems about her strong dreams. One day, Jorgen enters into madness and goes into Angela’s room…

One night, Angela sees that her room isn’t locked. Jorgen had also disappeared. The war was over. She escapes; the next morning, Angela sees the light of day, as well as her freedom. Her happiness disappears as she sees Paris being devastated by the effects of war. She inevitably cries because of what became of her life and the city she once admired. The woman comes back home, where she finds her landlady Geneviève; she is still alive. Angela then learns that her friend Pierrette has been killed while she was working as a voluntary nurse in a military hospital; many emotions touch her fragility. Geneviève’s wisdom gives strength to Angela, and thanks to Geneviève’s wise encouragement the young woman finds a new reason to look on and to keep living her own life. Soon, Angela and Geneviève develop a strong relationship as they reconstruct the pieces of their broken lives. Angela begins to write a book about her journey during war; she calls it “Angela’s Path” and publishes the book one year after giving birth to her baby, the son she had from Jorgen.

What the press would say:

Emotions can be portrayed with intensity in cinema. Centering on one woman’s spiritual journey during the troubled times of World War I, “Angela’s Path” is a film of expression, crafted with vision by Australian filmmaker Jane Campion. “Path” is a motion picture that belongs to the same kind of female-centered movies of Campion’s productions of the past years. It is a film that possesses many aspects of European cinema such as emotions shown through images, atmosphere contrasts and a glimpse of hallucinatory surrealism through Angela’s exhaustive dreams. The touching screenplay, written by Campion and Ronald Harwood, explores the most profound aspects of a woman’s soul and brings the whole film to a strong level of sensibility, mixed with the romantic spirit of the great tradition of European literature.

Campion and the beautiful cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel pay big attention at colors and light tones. They create a magical Paris at the beginning of the film and transform it into a dark and depressive Paris as Angela faces war. They give an evocative atmosphere to the film that reminds expressionist European painting; while the wonderful score composed by Oscar winner Dario Marianelli gives a powerful contribution to the excellent production values of the film. Campion’s directing abilities are simply extraordinary. The picture is always restrained, making it feel more authentic and human. Her directing of actors is simply impeccable.

Penélope Cruz plays the role of the lead character, Angela, a sensitive Spanish girl who arrives in Paris to begin a new life and falls into the darkest abyss when her existence is totally upset by the tragedy of war. Angela’s figure, brilliantly played by Cruz at the top of her talent, is the movie’s emotional and narrative center, and the Spanish actress gives a tremendous transformation by completely becoming her character. Thanks to the expressive looks of her eyes in the dramatic moments of the film, Cruz really captures the most intimate essence of Angela, who goes through hope and joy and loneliness and desperation, until she finds a way to reconstruct her life and continues to follow her path.

The supporting cast of the film includes an amazing performance by screen legend Catherine Deneuve who shines in the role of Geneviève, Angela’s landlady, who becomes her close confident after the end of the war. Deneuve’s performance in the film is absolutely stunning, and the French actress gives life to a character that is at the same time authoritarian, tender, obstinate and protective; Geniviève is the representation of hope in the film and Deneuve demonstrates this in her emotional scenes with Angela. Sebastian Koch's performance as the German soldier Jorgen is very moving; he achieves to create some humanity in a person as evil as Jorgen. Jorgen is the coward of the film but also one of the most human characters, and Koch outdoes himself during his powerful conversations with Angela. Virginie Ledoyen is also excellent as Pierrette, a woman of tolerance.

For Your Consideration

Best Picture – Jane Campion and Jan Chapman
Best Directing – Jane Campion
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Penélope Cruz
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Sebastian Koch
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Catherine Deneuve
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Virginie Ledoyen
Best Original Screenplay – Jane Campion and Ronald Harwood
As Well As Various Other Technical Categories