What Dreams May Come (film)

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This article is about the film. For the novel, see What Dreams May Come.
What Dreams May Come

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Vincent Ward
Produced by Stephen Deutsch
Barnet Bain
Written by Richard Matheson (novel)
Ronald Bass (screenplay)
Starring Robin Williams
Cuba Gooding Jr
Annabella Sciorra
Music by Michael Kamen
Cinematography Eduardo Serra
Editing by David Brenner
Distributed by PolyGram
Release date(s) October 2, 1998
Running time 113 min
Country United States
Language English
Budget US$85 million
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

What Dreams May Come is a 1998 dramatic film, starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Annabella Sciorra. The movie is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, and was directed by Vincent Ward.

Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) dies in a car accident, and goes to an otherworldly paradise, created out of his wife’s paintings. He befriends afterlife guide Albert Lewis (Cuba Gooding Jr.), but without his wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) he is lost. Albert attempts to dissuade Chris from trying to reach his wife, who herself is terrified of a life without him.

The two attempt to cross the boundaries of life and death to reach each other but it is not enough…

This is an Orpheus like story, of a man reaching beyond death to seek out his one love. A story that ultimately takes him into the hell his own wife is confronting.

What Dreams May Come is known for the extraordinary world Ward created, where Robin Williams walks into a striking landscape of living paintings.

The movie grossed in excess of US $200 million in (all territories/media) and won an Academy Award for its visual effects. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, and won the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design.

The film was released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Differences from the novel

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The novel has significant differences from the film, in both its plot and its vision of the afterlife. Its approach to the love story is considerably less sentimental, and its tone more scientific than fantastic.

There are far more references to Theosophical, New Age and paranormal beliefs. Indeed, the author Richard Matheson claims in an introductory note that only the characters are fictional, and that almost everything else is based on research (the book contains an extensive bibliography). Story elements that do not show up in the film include astral projection, telepathy, a séance, and the term "Summerland" (the name for a simplified Heaven in Theosophy, and for Heaven in general in earth-based religions such as Wicca).

The details of Chris's life on Earth also differ strongly in the novel. Only Chris and his wife (called Ann) die. Their children, who are grownups rather than youngsters, remain alive, as minor characters. Albert and Leona are exactly the people they appear to be, and the character played by Max Von Sydow does not appear in the book at all. Albert is Chris's cousin and not African American as in the film, while Leona's ethnicity is not divulged. Chris and Ann are rural, country types rather than the urbanites portrayed in the film, and he is not a pediatrician, nor is she a painter. He's a Hollywood screenwriter, and she has a variety of jobs.

The afterlife imagery is based on natural scenery rather than paintings. The Heavenly environment doesn't automatically mold itself to people's thoughts, as it does in the film; some practice and expertise is required to build things. There is more explanation of how the afterlife works, and we get more of a sense that a functioning human society shares the space. The novel's depiction of Hell is considerably more violent than in the film. Chris finds it difficult to move, breathe, or even see, and he suffers physical torture at the hands of some of the inhabitants. He does not encounter ships, thunderstorms, fire, or the sea of human faces that he must walk upon in the film. Instead, he and Albert climb across craggy cliffs and encounter such sights as a swarm of insects that attack people's bodies.

Ann is consigned to Hell for only twenty-four years, not eternity. Chris's meeting with Ann in her private Hell is much longer and more complex than in the film. At the end, which resembles an alternate version of the film but not the standard version, she escapes from Hell by being reincarnated, because she is not ready for Heaven.

[edit] Release

What Dreams May Come had an $85 million budget, according to boxofficemojo.com. It opened on October 28, 1998 in the United States on 2,526 screens. The opening weekend gross was $15,833,592, 28.6% of its ultimate $55,382,927 domestic intake. International grosses are unavailable, but according to the director's commentary, it smashed Italy's opening weekend records.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • It is one of the few movies to be shot largely on Fuji Velvia film, known among landscape photographers for its vivid color reproduction.[1]
  • The title comes from a famous line in Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 3, scene 1 (To be, or not to be), specifically, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil." Scenes in the movie, as well as the plot outline in the novel, contain several allegorical references to Dante Alighieri's 1308 epic poem The Divine Comedy. A connection to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice should also be noted.
  • Annette Bening was originally cast to play Annie, but extracted herself from the role in advance of production for personal reasons.
  • Famed Italian composer Ennio Morricone originally wrote and recorded a score for the film. After editorial changes were made, his score was discarded, and replaced with one composed by Michael Kamen.
  • The DVD release of the film has both Heaven and Hell themed menus available to the viewer.
Blue Jacaranda in bloom.
Blue Jacaranda in bloom.

[edit] External links

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