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Original sin - director's cut

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Movie propaganda

Lead us into temptation.

Set in the exotic world of Cuba in the late 1800s, Original sin is a sexy suspenseful thriller about the dangerous and sometimes lethal power of love. Louis Durand (Antonio Banderas) is a wealthy coffee merchant who has decided to take an American wife. When he arrives at the docks to meet Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), he is surprised to find that she is not the plain woman he was expecting. Happier than he ever imagined, he and his new bride embark on a new life. But the surprise continues until the story takes a fateful turn.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film drama erotic 1800s Cuba romance love thriller crime

Persons of interest

Antonio Banderas .... Luis Antonio Vargas
Angelina Jolie .... Julia Russell/Bonnie Castle
Thomas Jane .... Walter Downs/Billy/Mephisto
Jack Thompson .... Alan Jordan
Gregory Itzin .... Colonel Worth
Allison Mackie .... Augusta Jordan
Joan Pringle .... Sara
Cordelia Richards .... Emily Russell
James Haven .... Faust
Pedro Armendáriz Jr .... Jorge Cortés
Harry Porter .... Stage Manager
Fernando Torre Laphame .... Wedding Priest
Shaula Vega .... Dressmaker Girl
Lisa Owen .... Margareta
Daniel Martínez .... Rafael
Cornell Woolrich .... Author: Waltz into darkness
Michael Cristofer .... Screenwriter
Michael Cristofer .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Original sin official movie site
Studios and distributors:

MGM * 20th Century Fox

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

The title of this film is not subtle. Louis is Adam, Julia is Eve and Billy is Satan (in an even less subtle piece of "irony", Billy also plays Mephisto in the play). Discovering the truth is eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil while the descent into a life of crime is the fall from paradise. You know how it ends.

What's good about Original sin is the number of twists (some of which are well signposted) and the extent of Billy's hold over Julia. Watching her fall under his spell time and time again is a deliciously naughty piece of voyeurism. Not that I'm into that.

What's bad about Original sin is that neither Louis nor Julia ever manage to catch your sympathy. Sure, they're the protagonists, but if you met them on the street you'd walk straight past; there's nothing in Antonio's and Angelina's performances that lets you empathise with their characters. If you could, this would be a much more captivating film. But it ain't.