DON JUAN DEMARCO lives in the comedy section at my local Blockbuster. I suppose that is the best place for it; it does not suffer under the weight of its psychiatric-evaluation plot device, is exultant and exhilarating, and includes some truly laugh out loud funny lines.
For the most part, though, DJDM is a romantic fable with lessons not just for men (about how to seduce a woman touching nothing but her hand, for example), but for women as well (about how romance can exist in our everyday lives, even if we never encounter Don Juan).
Johnny Depp plays Don Juan DeMarco, the world's greatest lover - a 21 year old man in Queens, NY when we meet him. He has nothing left to live for and climbs to the top of a billboard to await a worthy adversary who will end
his life. Instead, he gets a somnambulistic psychiatrist on the verge of retirement (Marlon Brando), who convinces him to come down and promptly commits him for observation.
In tone, the film is similar to CHOCOLAT (which also stats Depp) and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE; its environment of a psychiatric hospital where the young Don Juan must prove his sanity reminds me of the grandfather in A PRINCESS BRIDE. It gives us a point of reference in our own world and prevents the unbridled romanticism of Don Juan's monologues from getting out of hand.
No man other than Depp could sit squarely in this modern-world fishbowl and deliver the lines of Don Juan. He insisted on working with Brando on the film, but he outshines the cinema icon in every shared shot. His physical beauty is less important than his utter sincerity - a sincerity so convincing that even my "I hate chick flicks" husband can watch with a straight face and come away in a better mood.
As Don Juan says, "there are only four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for?" By the end of the film, he has proven his point: "the answer to each is the same - only love." Not that the story answers all of its own questions...
Is Don Juan a pathological liar and a schizophrenic? Is he troubled but sincere? Does Brando's Dr. Mickler really get conflicting evidence from Don Juan's family, or has he slipped into a daydream fueled by his desire to recapture the part of himself Don Juan represents? No matter how many times I see the film, I end up believing *in* Don Juan, even if I do not *believe* him.
DJDM gets a 7 in spite of being one of my favorite films. The reason: Brando can be nearly intolerable at times, but Depp picks up his slack. Highly recommended to romantics of all ages - one of the sexiest movies in my collection, despite its PG rating.
For the most part, though, DJDM is a romantic fable with lessons not just for men (about how to seduce a woman touching nothing but her hand, for example), but for women as well (about how romance can exist in our everyday lives, even if we never encounter Don Juan).
Johnny Depp plays Don Juan DeMarco, the world's greatest lover - a 21 year old man in Queens, NY when we meet him. He has nothing left to live for and climbs to the top of a billboard to await a worthy adversary who will end
his life. Instead, he gets a somnambulistic psychiatrist on the verge of retirement (Marlon Brando), who convinces him to come down and promptly commits him for observation.
In tone, the film is similar to CHOCOLAT (which also stats Depp) and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE; its environment of a psychiatric hospital where the young Don Juan must prove his sanity reminds me of the grandfather in A PRINCESS BRIDE. It gives us a point of reference in our own world and prevents the unbridled romanticism of Don Juan's monologues from getting out of hand.
No man other than Depp could sit squarely in this modern-world fishbowl and deliver the lines of Don Juan. He insisted on working with Brando on the film, but he outshines the cinema icon in every shared shot. His physical beauty is less important than his utter sincerity - a sincerity so convincing that even my "I hate chick flicks" husband can watch with a straight face and come away in a better mood.
As Don Juan says, "there are only four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for?" By the end of the film, he has proven his point: "the answer to each is the same - only love." Not that the story answers all of its own questions...
Is Don Juan a pathological liar and a schizophrenic? Is he troubled but sincere? Does Brando's Dr. Mickler really get conflicting evidence from Don Juan's family, or has he slipped into a daydream fueled by his desire to recapture the part of himself Don Juan represents? No matter how many times I see the film, I end up believing *in* Don Juan, even if I do not *believe* him.
DJDM gets a 7 in spite of being one of my favorite films. The reason: Brando can be nearly intolerable at times, but Depp picks up his slack. Highly recommended to romantics of all ages - one of the sexiest movies in my collection, despite its PG rating.