About the film
- Directed by
- Anthony Minghella
- Released
- May 3, 1991
- Certification
- PG
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Starring
- Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Michael Maloney, Bill Paterson, Christopher Rozycki
More credits
- 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
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. Minghella would go on to win the Oscar for The English Patient.
How to see Truly Madly Deeply (1991)
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The final scene, when you realise why he came back, that’s when the tears start to fall.
I so love this film. Makes me cry so much.
I watched this one matinee in a central London cinema on its release. My first solo cinema treat! Moved to tears alone in the darkness – was quite an experience – but felt liberating & safe & quite beautiful ❤️
Saw it in a cinema on Baker Street – don’t think I ever really stopped crying during it. Wonderful performances.
Wonderful film, brilliant performances…the ending is uplifting and heart-ripping at the same time.
Alan Rickman……genius
I was lucky enough to be at the BFI when his dearest friends played tribute to him, including EMMA THOMPSON..SIR IAN MCKELLAN…RUBY WAX and they played this film after…dont think there was a dry eye in the house….what a wonderful actor and beautiful soul…………….
My first Alan Rickman film – loved him!
Loved this film!!
Just the best. When I was romantic and 15 and this film came out, it felt like it had been made for me. I didn’t just want the sensitive lefty cello player, I wanted the caring job, the (implausibly costly) flat in Highgate, the Spanish crocheted bedspread, the Bach, and Michael Maloney. 😁 Anthony Minghella introduced me to, and gave me a lifelong love for JS Bach. Bach is a golden thread that runs through many of his wonderful films. I wish he were still with us.
Favourite movie!
One if my all time favourite films 💕
LOVE this movie!
Both actors sensational in there parts and some very good supporting roles too.
Beautiful
I absolutely adore this film!!! No one can make me cry like Juliet Stevenson during her therapy session at the beginning of this film 💔😭😭
When she is playing the piano and realises he’s come back ….😭
Ohhh, it is the most wonderful film. Alan Rickman….what a gorgeous man…so sad that he is no longer with us 😞
Have always said..Truly Madly Deeply knocks spots off Ghosts. The acting is impeccable. The story has you laughing one minute, crying the next and doing both at same time in parts.
Love it.
I love this film so much 🥰
Brilliant film.
For me, so much better than Ghost. Incredibly acted and it stays with you forever.
It is a fabulous, out-of-the-box movie–I have a copy that I watch over and over.
And don’t forget the gorgeous Michael Moloney who played her eventual new love interest, skipping along the South Bank! ❤️
Absolutely fabulous film
Loved this ❤️💙
Totally totally amazing film. When she cried it was real – snot and all ! I simply adore this film. Real grief and the journey/passage that we go through with the loss of a loved one Jane Webb-Sankey 🇨🇦
On of my top ten Favourite films. I cry ugly tears every single time.
All. Time. Favorite.
the sun aint gonna shine anymore
I still cannot watch this film without sobbing uncontrollably 😭
I love this film. Never seen it screened sonce though!
This is in my top 10 of all time. It’s simply perfect.
The first time I saw this gil was whilst I was living as a student in a flat in Bristol, where some of it was filmed. I watched it with my flatmate and we both sobbed our way through it. Such a tender portrayal of grief but new beginnings. I love this film.
I loved this film. The poem at the end where Nina decides to embrace life is wonderful. Jamie comes back to let her know he was, in life, really annoying. I cry every time I watch it and sometimes it’s loud and ugly crying to annoy husband who just doesn’t get it