What Dreams May Come
Short description
Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident and wakes in an afterlife shaped by his own imagination, a place of considerable beauty where he is met by a guide named Albert. His wife, Annie, a painter, is left behind, and when grief overwhelms her she takes her own life. Because of how she died, she is sent to a hellish realm rather than joining Chris, and he sets out to find her despite warnings that no one has ever rescued a soul from that place. Max von Sydow appears as a figure known as the Tracker who aids him.
The film is a 1998 American release directed by Vincent Ward and written by Ronald Bass, adapted from Richard Matheson's 1978 novel of the same name. Robin Williams plays Chris and Annabella Sciorra plays Annie, with Cuba Gooding Jr. as Albert and Jessica Brooks Grant and Josh Paddock as the couple's children. It runs 113 minutes and was made for about 85 million dollars.
Its theatrical returns fell well short of that figure, taking roughly 55 million dollars worldwide, a gap that made the film a costly production for its backers. Audiences have been kinder to it over time: it holds a 7 out of 10 on IMDb from around 120,000 votes and a 7.3 out of 10 on TMDB from 2,617 votes, while the critics' rating stands at 5.5 out of 10 from 67 reviews, a notable split between professional and viewer response.
What's left behind the scenes
- Ennio Morricone originally composed the music for this film. However, after test screenings, his compositions were removed from the film. Neither the director nor the producers gave any clear explanation for this. Ultimately, the film's soundtrack featured compositions by Michael Kamen and Alfred Schnittke.
- American actress Annette Bening auditioned for the role of Annie Nielsen.
- The phrase “2R Day” (the day the decision about divorce is made) corresponds to the English version of “DD-Day” (Divorce Decision). Additionally, Chris initially refers to the day of the divorce as “D-Day” (Divorce Day) – a term used in the American army to denote the day a military operation begins.
- The film is based on Richard Matheson's novel 'What Dreams May Come' (1978).
- The traditional translation of this film's title into Russian ignores the fact that the phrase 'What dreams may come' is a quote from Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be...' monologue; a more accurate and film-appropriate translation of its title would be to use Boris Pasternak's translation of this phrase – 'What dreams may come in that mortal sleep...' (or the following phrase 'When the veil of earthly feeling is removed').
- When Chris enters heaven, one can observe among the flying people characters from fairy tales – Peter Pan and Mary Poppins. Furthermore, the director Vincent Ward's mother is among the flying people in the library.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
