Tosca

Authors: Juan
Location: Mexico

“Tosca”

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Music by: Rachel Portman
Screenplay by: Ronald Harwood
Cinematography by: John Mathieson
Edited by: Walter Murch

Principal Cast:

Keira Knigtley-Floria Tosca
Heath Ledger-Mario Cavaradossi
Jeremy Irons-Baron Scarpia
Jared Leto-Cessare Angelotti
Joseph Fiennes-Spoletta
Anthony Hopkins -The Sacristan

Tagline: "When love is condemned to death, there is no prison for the heart"

Synopsis: Based on Giacommo Puccini’s opera, Tosca tell us about the misfortunes of the passionate couple conformed by Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi. During Napoleon’s invasion in Italy, the sacred art painter, Cavaradossi, lives deeply in love with her gorgeous mistress, a bad-tempered singer called Floria Tosca. Their effusive love darkens because of the singer’s strong jealousy and Cavaradossi’s determination of helping a political fugitive friend called Cessare Angelotti and hiding him in Tosca’s family chapel. This fact causes several conflicts to the couple, because the evil despot police officer, Baron Scarpia, who is crazy in love with Tosca, discovers that the fugitive has been helped and takes Cavaradossi to prison, threatening with killing him. Desperate and afflicted, Tosca asks Scarpia to set his lover free, swearing she will spend a night with him as a reward for his action. So he promises to simulate his execution and liberate him later, satisfied with her proposal. Tosca stabs Scarpia when he tries to close the deal and hurries to get to the prison where Cavaradossi is shut, in order to set him free now that the main obstacle for their love is gone. Being there she hears about Angelotti’s suicide and witnesses her lover’s death, caused by a misunderstanding between Scarpia and his servant, Spoletta, who did not catch the order of pretending Cavaradossi’s murder . Tosca does not find a sense of living without having Cavaradossi’s love and throws herself to the emptiness to end her heart-break. Tosca is a story about love, the thing that keeps us alive and remains after death.

What the press would say:

There is a reason love stories are always in the spotlight, every human been lives or has lived one. Puccini’s Tosca is a memorable love story for humanity, two strong characters fall in love in the middle of political disasters, their romance is full of misfortunes that ends in death. Those characters are perfectly played by Keira Knightley and Heath Ledger, both give majestic performances, exploiting their talent and touching our hearts . Keira captures her character completely, showing she is the right one to play Tosca, their personalities are similar, which helps a lot to her natural performance. After Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger confirms his acting quality by playing Cavaradossi, a dreaming passionate character, he can control complex emotions, and his interaction with Keira is delightful, his biggest moment is the part when he dies, the leading couple take our breath away. The supporting performances are incredible, Jeremy Irons is excellent as the evil Baron Scarpia, he adds the needed bitterness to the story, without him, the film would not have been the same, he is just great; Jared Leto and Joseph Fiennes have interesting characters, even they are small, they are well played, Jared surprises with his strong interpretation as a fugitive, and Joseph is also great as Scarpia’s servant. There is one more performance that catches our attention, Anthony Hopkins is incredible as Tosca and Cavaradossi’s spiritual guide, a small performance from a big actor. Ridley Scott directs a wonderful team, all the elements build one of the best pictures all of time, every aspect confirm its quality, a real frontrunner for the next Academy Awards.

AWARDS FOR CONSIDERATION:

Best Picture
Best Director: Ridley Scott
Best Actress: Keira Knigtley
Best Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actor: Jeremy Irons
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Score
Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Art Design
Best Costume Design
Best Make-up
And some other technical categories