Taglines: They went looking for adventure… and found themselves.
Camilla movie storyline. Vincent and Freda Lopez are a young married Toronto couple who both indulge in the arts, Vince as an artist and Freda as a musician/composer. Their marriage is not as secure as it may seem on the surface as Vince sees Freda’s music as purely a hobby, while she sees it as her vocation, despite feeling insecure about it.
The two drive to Savannah, Georgia for a vacation, where they meet mother and son Camilla and Harold Cara, a former concert violinist and a B-movie producer respectively. There is an immediate bond between Camilla and Freda because of their music, and because of the unconditional support Camilla provides to Freda concerning her music that Vince will or cannot. Their bond is also despite the obvious exaggerated stories Camilla tells of her life.
After Vince and Harold leave to work on a joint project and after Freda and Vince have an argument following about her musical career, Freda asks Camilla to drive back to Toronto with her to attend a concert of Brahms’ violin concerto at the Winter Garden Theatre, which would mirror Camilla’s own performance of the same piece at the same venue years earlier.
Camila accepts. The women’s journey is not only filled with adventure (especially after a mishap with Vince’s car) but also one of coming to terms with their past and their future. Meanwhile, Vince and Harold come back to Savannah to find the two women gone. As Vince and Harold look for Freda and Camilla, each of the men eventually have to reconcile their own broken relationship with the woman in their respective life.
Camilla is a 1994 film directed by Deepa Mehta and is Jessica Tandy’s penultimate movie appearance. The movie is dedicated to the memory of Jessica Tandy. She plays the title character, Camilla Cara, a former concert violinist. It is a road movie with Bridget Fonda playing the opposite, younger female role of Freda Lopez, herself a musician/composer, albeit unfulfilled. The two leave their male companions, Camilla’s son Harold (Chaykin), a B-movie producer and Vincent (Koteas), Freda’s husband and artist behind in Savannah, Georgia to return to Toronto to attend a concert of Brahms’ violin concerto at the Winter Garden Theatre. This performance is a mirror of a performance of Camilla’s given at the same venue many years earlier.
The film is not only an adventure-filled journey, but also a reconciling of the two women’s pasts and futures. Camilla and Freda bond over Camilla’s unconditional support that she extends for Freda’s music which Freda’s husband will or can not give. This bond forms despite the obviously exaggerated stories Camilla tells of her own life. The men, after having left the women to work on a joint project, return to Savannah to find the ladies have vanished. As Vincent and Harold embark on a search for Freda and Camilla, they, too, come to realize that they must reconcile their broken relationships with the women in their lives.
Camilla (1994)
Directed by: Deepa Mehta
Starring: Jessica Tandy, Bridget Fonda, Elias Koteas, Hume Cronyn, Maury Chaykin, Graham Greene, George Harris, Atom Egoyan, Sandi Ross, Camille Spence
Screenplay by: Ali Jennings, Paul Quarrington
Production Design by: Sandra Kybartas
Cinematography by: Guy Dufaux
Film Editing by: Barry Farrell
Costume Design by: Elisabetta Beraldo, Milena Canonero
Set Decoration by: Carol Lavoie
Art Direction by: Armando Sgrignuoli
Music by: John Altman, Daniel Lanois
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: November 25, 1994
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