The Bridges of Madison County
Short description
In 1960s Iowa, Francesca Johnson, an Italian-born wife of a farmer and mother of two, is alone at her farm for a few days while her husband and children attend a fair. A photographer named Robert Kincaid arrives in Madison County to shoot its old covered wooden bridges for a magazine. He stops to ask for directions to Roseman Bridge, and Francesca drives with him instead. Over four days the two grow close and fall in love, leaving Francesca torn between the life she has built and the man she has just met. Years later, after her death, her grown children learn from her journals why she asked to have her ashes scattered at the bridge.
Clint Eastwood directed and stars here, his eighteenth film as director in a run that includes A Perfect World before it and Absolute Power after. Meryl Streep plays Francesca opposite Eastwood's Robert. Richard LaGravenese wrote the screenplay, and Eastwood produced with Kathleen Kennedy and Tom Rooker.
Made for roughly 24 million dollars, the film took in about 182 million worldwide, a strong commercial result for a romantic drama. On IMDb it holds 7.6 from around 96,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.7 from a much smaller pool. Critics rated it 7.3 from 60 reviews, close to what general audiences gave it.
What's left behind the scenes
- The Cedar Bridge, where Francesca and Robert met, was destroyed on September 3, 2002.
- The author of the novel, Robert James Waller, wrote his book in 11 days and initially did not plan to publish it. He simply let his friends read it, and one of them advised Waller to find a literary agent. An agent was found in New York.
- In 1993, Sydney Pollack was planning to film the movie. He invited his favorite actor, Robert Redford, for the lead role, and the role of Francesca could have been played by Anjelica Huston, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, or Barbara Hershey.
- Madison County still has six covered wooden bridges. Five of them—Roseman Covered Bridge, Holliwell Covered Bridge, Cutler-Donahoe Bridge, Hogback Covered Bridge, and Imes Covered Bridge—have survived from the 19th century. The sixth, Cedar Covered Bridge, was burned down in 2004 and subsequently replaced with a replica. Two bridges are used in the film: Roseman—the bridge Robert is looking for when he first stops at Francesca’s house, where she accompanies him and leaves him a letter; and Holliwell—where they drive together on one of the following days. Both bridges are relatively far from the town of Winterset, allowing the film’s characters to get there unnoticed. If Robert had needed to photograph the Cutler-Donahoe Bridge or the Cedar Covered Bridge, which are located directly in the town, he wouldn’t have been able to take Francesca there.
- Bruce Beresford could also have directed the film. But he wanted to make the main character English, and when the studio refused, he left the project.
- The film is based on Robert James Waller's novel "The Bridges of Madison County" (1992).
- Meryl Streep had to gain weight to look like an ordinary American housewife on screen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
