After a long and fruitless hunt, I was finally able to watch this HBO’s production. I had a special interest since I had visited Hemingway’s house in Key West years ago and he had been not just a favorite in American literature but a party advocate and a heavy drinker with a saucy reputation. Quite a character!
As for Gellhorn, I really didn’t know who she was other than one of Hemingway’s four wives. The fact that Nicole Kidman was portraying her in this movie was good enough to make me feel curious.
Puzzles me when the same reason that initially attracted you from a person becomes the reason you end up feeling unable to stand such person any longer. This was the reality of their marriage. In addition to being beautiful, Gellhorn was educated, curious, passionate, unafraid of undertaking risks, ready to go explore the world and become a witness at wars. Wow! he had found a suitable companion for his quests.
Then she mastered the skill of war reporting. Her voice became an opinion and her opinions became news. The news became her profession. This woman was committed. Perhaps a bit more than Hemingway might have wanted her to be, once they got married. Although is at this point when everything went to hell between them two, she was the woman who inspired his greatest novel, “For Whom The Bells Toll.”
As for the movie itself, it had so much more potential. The cast had chemistry and the story was solid so I blame the director for making of this movie, a caricature.