Cartagena (2009)

Original title

L'Homme de Chevet

Directed by

Alain Monne

Genre

drama film, boxing film, romance film

Country

France

Runtime

1h 32m

Rated

12

Rating

5.6 of 10 from 56 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A beautiful woman becomes paralyzed after an accident and hires a rough former boxer as her caregiver. He struggles with alcoholism but slowly earns her trust while she teaches him to read. Their unlikely bond pushes her to consider finding happiness again.

intimateslow-burnmelancholictendergrittyhopefulunderstatedemotionally raw

What happens

Cartagena (French: L'homme de chevet) is a 2009 French drama film directed by Alain Monne and starring Sophie Marceau, Christopher Lambert, and Margarita Rosa de Francisco. Based on the novel L'Homme de chevet by Eric Holder, with a screenplay by Alain Monne and Nathalie Vailloud, the film is about a beautiful, free-spirited woman who becomes bedridden following a terrible accident. Against her better judgement, she hires a drunk middle-aged former boxer to cook and care for her. Although unqualified for the position, he is desperate to work, and slowly he wins the trust of the woman, who teaches him how to read by introducing him to the works of Charles Bukowski. Through his help, she is forced to consider the potential happiness that awaits her in the outside world. Cartagena was filmed on location in Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia. The actor Christopher Lambert spent six months in Cartagena training with coach Anibal Gonzalez during his preparation for the role. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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