Does anyone recall a time when values, integrity, uprightness and true human compassion were a way of life? A Walk in the Clouds does. The story is sweet, romantic, dramatic, and heartwarming. The 1940's was an era when it was terrible shame to be unwed and pregnant. Daughters were often cast away or sent to some distant relative to bear their child in loneliness and disapproval, then the child was given for adoption. I know because I was one of those children. For my mother there was no Paul Sutton to love her and rescue her and her child. The father, portrayed by Giancarlo Gianni was a typical man of those desperate war torn years who was unable to get in touch with his feelings on any level except work and anger. I am more amazed at his ability to show affection for his wife than I am at the anger which rules his life. The family who eventually adopted me was just like this family. Hard horrible father, heavy drinker, full of anger, yet rapier wit and tongue. The rest of the family are so real because in those days most families who had a disagreeable father figure pulled together to make up for and cover over the hurts and embarrassment generated by that father. Very different from today's dysfunctional families. Anthony Quinn was superb and Keanu Reeves could not have been more believable as a simple man with a good heart and high values. His character is not meant to display anything but goodness, which he does beautifully. We have to remember that men used to be governed more by what was right than by the emotion of the moment as they are today. Aitana as Victoria is very lovely and desirable, but her character is also governed by the morals of the day. While she is sexy and flirtatious and clearly loves Paul, she stops short of using his attraction to her to seduce him because the very things she values and loves about him are his stability and uprightness. Today most women would simply go for it, but this film is not about today. It is about real love and true respect. The musical score is simply beautiful and very moving. The wine country and the shot of the California coast along Big Sur are great. Oh, by the by, for the unbelieving, after the grape harvest in the fall the branches of the vine die and become dry and brittle very quickly. The only part of a grape vine that continues to live is the stock and it's root, but even that seems all gray and dead from just looking at the outside. A fire in a dry, post-harvest vineyard would spread and destroy all, just as it did in the film. Today, there are sprinkler systems, etc. to prevent such loss, but not in the 1940's. What a great movie. I own it and will always enjoy watching it again and again.
