Head in the Clouds

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Head in the Clouds

R,

2004,

2h 13m,

Drama/

Romance/

War

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Watchlist

Watchlist

17%

88 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

17%

Tomatometer

88 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Gilda Besse (Charlize Theron) is a rising photographer living in Paris in the 1930s. She invites Guy Malyon (Stuart Townsend), an Irish intellectual, and Mia (Penélope Cruz), a Spanish refugee, to share her apartment. The trio forms a unique romantic bond. But as World War II begins spreading across Europe, their bond is broken when Guy and Mia decide to leave to serve in the war effort, and Gilda chooses to stay in Paris to pursue her career and maintain her Bohemian lifestyle.

Critics Consensus

Head in the Clouds aspires to soapy melodrama, but gets lost in its own lather, never mining romance from its central love affair or achieving authenticity in its period setting.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 24, 2010

2/5

This soapy saga is for adults only.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

Oct 18, 2008

There's a whole lot of romantic and historical huffing and puffing in writer-director John Duigan's rickety epic, most all of it recycled from other films.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Nov 5, 2004

1/5

The story becomes a long slog because Duigan doesn't define his characters and because he's determined to touch too many of the familiar '30s European bases.

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Diana Tuova

Spotlight on Film

Aug 9, 2024

3/5

Head in the Clouds is not perfect. It is too theatrical in its presentation and gets overly melodramatic. However, the film also does what few movies do nowadays: it presents a love story which is actually believable.

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Jim Lane

Sacramento News & Review

Aug 7, 2008

2/5

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Oct 29, 2006

D

Even as a potboiler, this melodrama is too silly and improbable to be enjoyed as trash

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John Duigan

Director

Charlize Theron

Gilda Bessé

Penélope Cruz

Mia

Stuart Townsend

Guy

Thomas Kretschmann

Maj. Franz Bietrich

Steven Berkoff

Charles Besse

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Synopsis

Gilda Besse (Charlize Theron) is a rising photographer living in Paris in the 1930s. She invites Guy Malyon (Stuart Townsend), an Irish intellectual, and Mia (Penélope Cruz), a Spanish refugee, to share her apartment. The trio forms a unique romantic bond. But as World War II begins spreading across Europe, their bond is broken when Guy and Mia decide to leave to serve in the war effort, and Gilda chooses to stay in Paris to pursue her career and maintain her Bohemian lifestyle.

Director: John Duigan
Producer: Michael Cowan, Bertil Ohlsson, Jonathan Olsberg, Jason Piette, Andre Rouleau, Maxime Rémillard
Screenwriter: John Duigan
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Magna Films, Dakota Films Limited
Rating: R (Sexuality|Nudity|Some Violence)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 12, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $398.2K
Runtime: 2h 13m
Sound Mix: Surround

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