Truly Madly Deeply (1991)
Half a year after the world wept over a dead man coming back to throw pottery with Demi Moore, a small British film did something similar and had the nerve to make his return complicated.
TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY (1991) stars Juliet Stevenson in a performance of shattering grief. Her character Nina is undone by the sudden death of her love, a cellist, played by Alan Rickman. Then he simply reappears in her flat, and for a while it is heaven.
But this ghost is no idealized fantasy. He keeps the heat cranked to tropical because he is always freezing, and invites his dead friends over to watch old movies all night. She begins to suspect he has come back only to annoy her.
Truly, Madly, Deeply premiered at the London Film Festival under the title Cello in November 1990 before being widely released in 1991. The working title was an intentional pun on "cielo," the Italian word for heaven.
It was the first film by Anthony Minghella, who wrote it specifically for Juliet Stevenson, and who would go on to win the Oscar for The English Patient.
About the Film
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR... IT JUST MIGHT COME TRUE.
- Directed By
- Anthony Minghella
- Runtime
- 106 minutes
- Released
- May 3, 1991
- Certification
- PG
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Starring
- Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Michael Maloney, Bill Paterson, Christopher Rozycki
More Credits
- Genres
- Fantasy, Drama, Comedy, Romance
- Language
- English
- Origin
- GB
- Studios
- Winston, BBC Film, The Samuel Goldwyn Company
- Written By
- Anthony Minghella
- Produced By
- Robert Cooper, Mark Shivas
- Cinematography
- Remi Adefarasin
- Music
- Barrington Pheloung
- Also Starring
- David Ryall, Deborah Findlay, Jenny Howe, Carolyn Choa, Keith Bartlett
Where to Watch
Rent
Buy
Source: JustWatch
Physical Media
For years this was maddeningly hard to own in North America, out of print, with the old Region 1 DVD trading for hundreds of dollars among Rickman devotees.
Blu-ray (2018 onward). It finally returned on Blu-ray. The disc carries a warm, funny, richly detailed audio commentary by Anthony Minghella himself, along with an interview and an introduction from him.
Brilliant film
Forgotten jewel.
Thanks for this recommendation!
A perfect film
Remember seeing it on tv the first time,blew me away.
My first time seeing Alan Rickman. I fell in love with his voice first!
Wonderful movie! The Sun Ain’t Gonna Rise Anymore!
It’s beautiful, maddening, funny, tragic, thoughtful and heartbreaking all at once. I watched it again not long after Alan Rickman died, and just wept.
I saw this film in the theater in Provincetown, MA and cried for days. I own the DVD and taught it to college students until someone stole it! 😭 Best first date scene ever!!
Great film.
I love them both. I’ll be watching this tonight! It’s on Amazon prime. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this gem.
If you like this genre, you will love a more recent film, titled ”All of Us Strangers.” It also employs magical realism to mine similar themes of loss, regret, missed opportunities and love. It also doesn’t hurt that it stars Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, with Claire Foye and Jamie Bell as the protagonist’s long dead parents. It’s powerfully moving and sent me to bed in tears.
Its a wonderful film. A lot of us guys fell in love with Juliet. And but for one Strepsil the outcome could have been so different (according to the Bill Patterson character).
Allan Martin One wee strepsil!
Omg, one of the most beautiful little films!
Wonderful movie!!
I watched this hours after giving birth to my first child,with him snuggled up beside me and I sobbed my hormonal little heart out.great film,treasured memory.
I love this movie think its called Love Jamie it was wonderful
A wonderful film! Jamie does evverything for Nina. Katherine
I saw this right after a terrible break up and I couldn’t believe she wouldn’t put up with EVERYTHING just to have him back. 💔
I love that movie. A moving performance by Juliet, a true portrait of pain. So nice to see Alan play a good guy.
Beautiful & brilliant film, indeed… 😢🥴💙
Agree that Truly, Madly, Deeply is a very good film. But It was Juliette Binoche who appeared in and won the Oscar for The English Patient.
Kim Bonser The caption is poorly worded. Anthony Minghella, who directed Truly Madly Deeply, won an Oscar for directing The English Patient.
love this one! one of the very few romantic comedies that i’m a fan of. also, “shaun of the dead.”
Literally my favourite movie. Unfortunately can’t watch it as present as my husband died. Hopefully in the future
Great movie ❤️
fantastic movie!!!!!
One of my favorite movies, the first time I saw Alan Rickman. I was spellbound and was so happy see him recognized for his amazing talent! 🥲💔👏🏼
Love this film. Tried to get it on DVD but the prices were expensive.
Europeans love to tout their “films” as complicated, as an insult to the vastly superior American film industry. Tired eurocentrism doesn’t put butts in seats. Or retroactively make mediocre copies of superior American movies any better.