Of Love and Shadows

The Spanish/Argentinian Of Love and Shadows (De Amor y Sombras) is a fragmentary adaptation of the Isabel Allende novel of the same name. The scene is Chile, during the dictatorial Pinochet regime of the early 1970s. Journalist Jennifer Connelly, insulated from the truth and enjoying the romantic favors of Army officer Camillo Gallardin, prefers to turn a blind eye to the political turmoil all around her. She changes her attitude abruptly when she falls in love with charismatic self-styled anarchist Antonio Banderas. The grim realities depicted in the Allende novel are soft-pedalled in favor of the Connelly-Banderas love story-which, truth to tell, doesn't play very well on screen.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide