Tulip Fever (2017)
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A painter in 17th-century Amsterdam falls in love with the married woman he has been commissioned to paint.
The story
In the Dutch Republic just before the 17th-century tulip mania, an orphan named Sophia is cared for in a convent. She eventually marries Cornelis Sandvoort, a wealthy spice merchant, but finds herself unhappy as he is only concerned with conceiving an heir. When Cornelis commissions a young painter, Jan Van Loos, to create a double portrait of the couple, Jan and Sophia experience an immediate, tension-laced chemistry. As their forbidden attraction grows, Sophia finds herself caught between her duty to her husband and her burgeoning love for the artist.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Sophia, a woman married to the wealthy spice merchant Cornelis Sandvoort, enters into a clandestine affair with Jan Van Loos, a painter commissioned to paint her portrait. While Sophia and Jan's romance blossoms, Sophia's housemaid Maria becomes pregnant by the neighborhood fishmonger, Willem. After Willem is abducted into the navy, Sophia and Maria conspire to pass off Maria's pregnancy as Sophia's. They plan for Sophia to pretend to die in childbirth so Maria can raise the child as her own with Cornelis. Jan plans to escape with Sophia to the New World to participate in the tulip market. However, after Maria gives birth to a daughter and Sophia fakes her death, Sophia is overcome with guilt and runs away, leaving Jan unable to find her. Eventually, Cornelis discovers the conspiracy but makes his peace with the truth. He departs for the Dutch East Indies to start a new life, leaving the house to Maria, Willem, and the baby girl. Eight years later, Jan is commissioned to paint a mural and sees Sophia, who has joined a convent, and they share a final, tender look.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 107
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Justin Chadwick
- Writers
- Deborah Moggach · screenplay; Tom Stoppard · screenplay
- Genres
- historical; romantic; drama
- Themes
- forbidden love; deceit; social status; sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- lush; romantic; unfavorable
- Premise and plot tags
- historical romance; period piece; tulip mania
- Source material / true-story basis
- Deborah Moggach's 1999 novel of the same name
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavourable reviews from critics and was a box office disappointment, grossing $9.2 million against a $25 million budget.
- Production trivia
- The production was halted due to changes in UK tax rules.; The film was the last to be theatrically released by The Weinstein Company.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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