Don Juan DeMarco

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jeremy Leven directs. Ralf D. Bode behind the camera. Michael Kamen scores. Antony Gibbs cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Jeremy Leven, shot by Ralf D. Bode. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Michael Kamen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "The story of the man who thought he was the greatest lover in the world... and the people who tried to cure him of it!".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0112883 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ralf D. Bode

Original score

Michael Kamen

Editing

Antony Gibbs

Production design

Sharon Seymour

Costume design

Kirsten Everberg

Runtime

97 min · 1h 37m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$25,000,000

Box office

$68,792,531

Return

275% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Don Juan DeMarco (1994) ↗

Also by

Jeremy Leven

• 
  Girl on a Bicycle

  2013 · ★ 5.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Don Juan DeMarco Official Trailer - Johnny Depp Movie (1994)

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• talisencrw2016-09-16
  ★ 8/10

  I realize that I gave this too many marks, but if there's anything I have realized about cinema, it can best be said by a line that I watched, performed by Jean-Louis Trintignant, where he stated (and I paraphrase), something like, 'I can't remember the movie, but I can recall my feelings', and that sums up nicely why I feel the way I do about the movie. It's an interesting idea acted well by very good actors (a lot of people dismiss Marlon Brando's work here, but I don't think it's that bad, honestly). If anything, the problem here is the movie doesn't know where to go after it's decent start.

  Read full review ↓
• Reno2016-12-24
  ★ 7/10

  He who says every woman is a mystery to be solved. One of the earliest films for Johnny Depp and very surprising. Thematically, the film is for the grown ups, but well made without too much sexual exploit. That means you can comfortably sit and watch with your family. This is not actually about Don Juan, but kind of 'The Fall'. I mean the flashback reveals everything and remains as a mystery. The story follows a man who himself declares the real Don Juan DeMarco, the greatest lover of the world. So he ends in a psychiatric centre for the treatment after trying to commit suicide. A doctor who is on the verge to retire set to treat him and when the DeMarco narrates his life story, the doctor too inspires to reinstate his romantic life. The remaining narration tells how they work out to solve the issue once for all. Not a masterpiece, but kind of interesting drama, particularly for how the film characters were drawn. And the story was built cleverly, till the final scene by giving out the viewers a positive message that worth living life to love and to be loved. So if you opt it for the title, not a bad choice, since the theme remains about the love, even the person you are looking for is not present. More like it is a metaphor, when it comes to the real Don Juan and the one in this film. Like people say god is everywhere, the love is as well and so the version/personality of Don Juan in every person. Johnny Depp was so good, an ideal person to play the title role. Marlon Brando was too great, in a simple way. The rest of the cast was not bad, but the entire film focused on these two than anybody else. It's been nearly 25 years since it came out, but I feel a remake would be not a bad idea with changes in the script. Todays writer and directors are clever at doing that, but it should come from a big banner with big names. Maybe Johnny Deep to play the doctor in the modern version. I hope some filmmakers read this and consider that. Meanwhile, it is a worthy film, so it a try. 7/10

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2023-02-12
  ★ 7/10

  Brando, Depp and Dunaway in an amusing and inspiring romcom After a psychiatrist in New York (Marlon Brando) talks a young Lothario out of committing suicide (Johnny Depp), the supposedly delusional man is interned at a mental hospital for examination where his charisma has an interesting effect on the people. Faye Dunaway plays the doctor’s wife. "Don Juan DeMarco” (1994) is a whimsical romantic dramedy with psychological insights highlighted by the three stars. Brando was verging on 70 during shooting and would only do four more feature films while Depp was a rising star who wouldn’t hit it big for another five years, as far as box office success goes. While the movie performed mediocrely in America, it made almost three times its cost worldwide and thus was considered a success for New Line Cinema. This was Marlon’s beefiest role since “The Missouri Breaks” (1976) and “Apocalypse Now” (1979) with the rest of his late-era films having minimal parts (for big bucks). While it’s criticized that he “coasts” through the role of the psychiatrist, mumbling, his performance fits the fun, insightful and inspiring tone. Depp would team-up with Brando again for his dismal oddity “The Brave” (1997). The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot in Southern Cal (Saugus, Los Angeles and Santa Clarita) with second unit work done in O'ahu and New York. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  American Zoetrope

  US

• 

  New Line Cinema

  US

• JU

  Juno Pix

  US

• 

  Outlaw Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerFrancis Ford Coppola
• ProducerFred Fuchs
• ProducerPatrick J. Palmer
• EditorAntony Gibbs
• CastingLynn Kressel
• Production DesignSharon Seymour
• Costume DesignKirsten Everberg
• Stunt DoubleLisa Comshaw
• ChoreographerAdam Shankman
• Storyboard DesignerRick Newsome
• Executive ProducerMichael De Luca
• CharactersLord Byron
• Co-Executive ProducerRobert Newmyer
• Co-Executive ProducerBrian Reilly
• Co-Executive ProducerJeffrey Silver
• SongsBryan Adams

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• sex addiction
• love
• mental institution
• patient
• psychiatrist
• don juan

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1994-10-12· ShowEast
• Theatrical1995-04-07PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• Don Juan de MarcoDE