The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Year: 2005

Runtime: 120 min

Language: English

Director: Mary McGuckian

Budget: $24M

DramaRomance

When a historic suspension bridge collapses, killing five people, a dedicated friar undertakes a heartfelt investigation into their lives. He seeks to understand the circumstances that brought them together at that fateful moment and explores the mysteries surrounding their individual journeys. The story delves into the interconnectedness of human lives and examines the profound question of destiny.

Direct adaptation

Read the The Bridge of San Luis Rey book behind the movie

Brother Juniper Studies Five Lives Ended by a Peruvian Bridge Collapse, Seeking a Demonstrable Pattern of Providence in Love, Isolation, and Chance · by Thornton Wilder, Russell Banks, Tappan Wilder

Why this book?

Mary McGuckian's The Bridge of San Luis Rey directly adapts Thornton Wilder's Brother Juniper witnessing a Peruvian bridge collapse and investigating the lives of the five people who died, including the Marquesa de Montemayor, Pepita, Esteban, Uncle Pio, and Jaime. The film turns Juniper's theological manuscript into a conflict with ecclesiastical authorities, expands the Perichole and Viceroy around the investigation, and makes connections among the victims more immediate. The collapse, backward life histories, questions of providence, frustrated love, and final movement from explanation toward human connection remain the novel's organizing design.

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