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Bobby Deerfield

Bobby Deerfield

Movie · 1977 · 15 people

Sydney Pollack directed Bobby Deerfield, an American romantic drama of 1977 that Columbia Pictures made from a script by Alvin Sargent. Its source is Heaven Has No Favorites, Erich Maria Remarque's 1961 novel, called Der Himmel kennt keine Günstlinge in German. It runs 124 minutes. In Brazil and Portugal it was released as Um Momento, Uma Vida. Its first showing in German-speaking countries took place on 24 November 1977.

Al Pacino plays a famous American Formula One driver on the European circuit. Bobby is tough and a little numb, used to living close to death. Everything changes when he meets the Swiss Lilian Morelli (Marthe Keller), who is elegant and enigmatic and carries a painful secret: she has an incurable illness. Her fate affects both the love story and Bobby's form on the track and state of mind. The cast also includes Anny Duperey, Romolo Valli, Guido Alberti, Jaime Sánchez, Féodor Atkine, Gérard Hernandez, Maurice Baquet and André Valardy.

The film uses real racing footage from the 1976 Formula One season. Pacino earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a drama for the role. The story can also be read as a moving lesson in the value of life.

DirectorSydney Pollack
Production companyColumbia Pictures

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Cast

Marthe Keller Marthe Keller Actor · 81 years old André Valardy André Valardy Actor · died at 68 Al Pacino Anny Duperey Romolo Valli Guido Alberti Jaime Sánchez Féodor Atkine Gérard Hernandez Maurice Vallier Monique Lejeune Patrick Floersheim Walter McGinn Mickey Knox Maurice Baquet

More from this director

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Pollack and screenwriter Alvin Sargent choose to turn Remarque's novel not into a flashy racing film but into the slow thaw of a closed-off man. Putting at the centre a driver used to living close to death and holding his feelings down gives the film a deliberately cool, heavy tone, and Pacino's Golden Globe nomination for the role shows that this difficult choice paid off in the performance. The problem is that a love story with a woman carrying an incurable illness sits right on the edge of melodrama. Pollack tries to get past that edge through restraint, but the restraint at times turns into emotional distance and the storytelling loses momentum.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

A Formula One driver as the hero and real racing footage from the 1976 season: on paper it looks like a full-on speed movie, but it isn't. It's a love drama, and the track seems to take a back seat to the romance. Anyone after racing thrills may find their patience tested between long conversations. The real race footage is a nice touch, but it can't carry the film on its own.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

A love story built around an incurable illness; the subject is heavy, so it isn't one for young children. Kids who get excited about race cars may well be bored for most of the story. It has a message that makes you think about the value of life, but it tells it in a quiet, sad way. Better suited to high-school teenagers and adults.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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