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| In Love And War - 1996 |
Coming up next we have 1996's "In Love And War", the true yet highly fictionalized story of the romance between a young Ernest Hemingway and the woman who nursed him back to health in Italy during World War I. These events were the basis for Hemingway's book "A Farewell To Arms".
The film's cast includes Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Margot Steinberg, Mackenzie Astin, Ingrid Lacey, Emilio Bonucci, and Colin Fox.
Agnes von Kurowsky is a nurse who has come to Italy from America with the Red Cross. The newly arrived nurses serve as a beacon of hope to the people in the town they have come to work in.
Lt. Ernest Hemingway, also an America stationed in Italy, is an ambulance driver but he wishes to become a writer.
Their paths collide when Ernest is brought into the hospital where Agnes is working after being injured in battle. Almost as soon as she starts working on him, Agnes finds herself being charmed by the younger man.
She also finds herself being romanced by a doctor at the hospital from a good Italian family. Dr. Domenico Caracciolo takes Agnes out on tours of the town and surrounding countryside, and Agnes finds it very easy to be with him.
Ernest becomes very jealous of the doctor, and he sets out to woo Agnes himself. Once he gets better, he, along with his friend and fellow hospital inmate Harry Villard, takes Agnes out on his own excursions.
Eventually, they give way to their feelings and become romantically involved.
In what seems like no time at all, Agnes is called to work on the front lines of the war. She writes Ernest a quick note and heads off to join her fellow nurses.
Ernest follows her to the front, and he proposes marriage. He also says that he is going to be sent home to America and that they should write each other daily letters.
Agnes accompanies him to the train station, and she watches as his train disappears from sight.
After a while, Dr. Caracciolo renews his attentions to Agnes. She's asked for a weekend visit at his mother's place with her friend Mac acting as a chaperone. Agnes isn't quite sure about it. She doesn't have anything to wear. "He's a doctor. How fancy can it be?" asks Mac.
It turns out VERY fancy. The Caracciolos are a very well-to-do family and the doctor's family residence in Venice is nothing short of palatial. Agnes is amazed by all she sees.
While in Venice, the armistice is signed and the whole party goes out on the balcony to join in the celebrations. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief that the war is over.
Dr. Caracciolo later takes Agnes to a hospital that he is building. While there, he proposes to her.
Agnes decides to break off her relationship with Ernest. In a letter that she writes, she explains that one of the reasons is their age gap. Ernest becomes very bitter.
At a gala, Dr. Caracciolo's family basically begs Agnes to marry him. They dance around the room together, but memories of Ernest fill her head.
Several months later and back in America, Agnes has a drink with her and Ernest's mutual friend Harry Villard. She tells him that she didn't marry the doctor. He tells her that Ernest is very angry with her still.
She decides to go and visit him. What she finds is not the Ernest she knew before in Italy. The man before her is angry, bitter, and mean, with a penchant for drinking. Agnes finds that Ernest is unable to forgive her.
As she walks off, Agnes narrates, "I never saw Ernie again after Walloon Lake. I often wonder what might have happened if he
had taken me in his arms, but I guess his pride meant he wasn't
able to forgive me. Some say he lived with the pain of it all his
life. The hurt boy became the angry man. The brilliant, tough adventurer who was the
most famous writer of his generation."
Cast rundown:
Sandra Bullock................................Agnes von Kurowsky
Chris O'Donnell...............................Ernest Hemingway
Margot Steinberg............................Mabel "Rosie" Rose
Mackenzie Astin..............................Harry Villard
Ingrid Lacey...................................Elsie "Mac" MacDonald
Emilio Bonucci................................Dr. Domenico Caracciolo
Colin Fox........................................Dr. Hemingway
And that's all for In Love And War. The events of this book are based around Ernest Hemingway's experiences in Italy during World War I. Those experiences became the basis for several of his stories. Agnes von Kurowsky was fictionalized in several of them. It was not until 1961 that her identity became known to the general public, when Hemingway's brother published a book about him.
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