The Bridges of Madison County movie storyline. The path of Francesca Johnson’s future seems destined when an unexpected fork in the road causes her to question everything she had come to expect from life. While her husband and children are away at the Illinois state fair in the summer of 1965, Robert Kincaid happens turn into the Johnson farm and asks Francesca for directions to Roseman Bridge.
Francesca later learns that he was in Iowa on assignment from National Geographic magazine. She is reluctant seeing that he’s a complete stranger and then she agrees to show him to the bridges and gradually she talks about her life from being a war-bride from Italy which sets the pace for this bittersweet and all-too-brief romance of her life.
Through the pain of separation from her secret love and the stark isolation she feels as the details of her life consume her, she writes her thoughts of the four-day love affair which took up three journals. The journals are found by her children after the lawyer was going over Francesca’s will and all the contents which produces a key to her hope chest in the bedroom which contained some of hers and Robert’s things. The message they take from the diaries is to what you what you have to do to be happy in life.
After learning that Robert Kincaid’s cremated remains were scattered off Roseman Bridge and that their mother requested that she too be cremated and her ashes to be scattered off Roseman Bridge, the children must decide whether to honor their mother’s final wishes or bury her alongside their father as the family had planned. Adapted from the novel by Robert James Waller, this is the story of a special love that happens just once in a lifetime — if you’re lucky.
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment and Malpaso Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment. The film was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with Kathleen Kennedy as co-producer and the screenplay was adapted by Richard LaGravenese.
The film is about an Italian war bride, Francesca (Meryl Streep), who lives with her husband and two children on a farm in Iowa. In 1965, she meets a National Geographic photographer named Robert (Eastwood) and has a four-day extramarital affair with him that changes both their lives forever. The film earned $182 million worldwide and was well received by critics. Streep received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination in 1996 for her performance in the film.
Principal photography took 42 days, ending on November 1, 1994, ten days ahead of Eastwood’s 52-day schedule; Eastwood filmed it chronologically from Francesca’s point of view, “because it was important to work that way. We were two people getting to know each other, in real time, as actors and as the characters.” It was filmed on location in Madison County, Iowa, including the town of Winterset, and in the Dallas County town of Adel. The Bell’s Mills Bridge, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was also a filming location.
The Bridges of Madison County opened theatrically on June 2, 1995 in 1,805 venues. It earned $10,519,257 in its opening weekend, ranking number two in the North American box office, behind Casper (which was in its second weekend). At the end of its run, the film grossed $71,516,617 domestically and $110,500,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $182,016,617.
The Bridges of Madison County movie trailer.
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Annie Corley, Victor Slezak, Sarah Kathryn Schmitt, Christopher Kroon, Debra Monk, Michelle Benes, Alison Wiegert
Screenplay by: Richard LaGravenese
Production Design by: Jeannine Oppewall
Cinematography by: Jack N. Green
Film Editing by: Joel Cox
Costume Design by: Colleen Kelsall
Set Decoration by: Jay Hart
Art Direction by: William Arnold
Music by: Lennie Niehaus
MPAA Rating: PG-13 on appeal for some sexuality and brief strong language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 2, 1995
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