Reversal of Fortune

"The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery."

1990 1h 51m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 365🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●93Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 21,751

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

“The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Glenn Close
Sunny von Bülow / Narrator
Jeremy Irons
Claus von Bülow
Ron Silver
Alan Dershowitz
Annabella Sciorra
Sarah
Uta Hagen
Maria
Fisher Stevens
David Marriott
Jack Gilpin
Peter MacIntosh
Christine Baranski
Andrea Reynolds

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Writers: Nicholas Kazan
Languages: English
Countries: Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barbet Schroeder, shot by Luciano Tovoli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mark Isham. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lee Percy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0100486 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barbet Schroeder directs. Luciano Tovoli behind the camera. Mark Isham scores. Lee Percy cuts. Produced in Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

136 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 3 countries: Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America.
3Directed by Barbet Schroeder, shot by Luciano Tovoli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Mark Isham. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Lee Percy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Case of Claus Von Bulow. An American Saga of Money and Mystery.".
8IMDB entry: tt0100486 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "coma", "based on novel or book", "biography", "murder".

The technical file

Cinematography: Luciano Tovoli
Original score: Mark Isham
Editing: Lee Percy
Production design: Mel Bourne
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky
Makeup / hair: Marie-Ange Ripka
Sound: Jack Cooley
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $15,445,131
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 93/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 21,751 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 13 wins & 16 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Barbet Schroeder

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522020-09-28
★ 7/10
Great performance from Jeremy Irons, well deserving of his Best Actor Academy Award, kind of is a letdown as both a legal and character drama. Some nice moments and solid performances from everyone but not sure I'll remember this one down the road. 3.5/5
CinemaSerf2023-05-21
★ 6/10
Quite why Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for this performance is anyone's guess. Though it is certainly one of his better efforts, he still comes across as remarkably wooden and un-engaging. His character - Klaus von Bulow - has just been convicted of attempting to marry his wealthy, socialite, wife Sonny (Glenn Close) by injecting her with drugs and leaving her to freeze to death on the bathroom floor (odd how they've got $14 million in the bank but never turn the central heating on!). Anyway, now she is lying in a coma and he is desperate so engages the services - at $300 a day, no less - of law professor Alan Dershowitz (upon whose book this is all based) to lead his appeal. It's history this, so if you're across the story then you will already know how it all pans out. Therefore what we are left with is a decent effort from Ron Silver as the tenacious lawyer, some almost ethereal contributions from Close as the occasionally animated corpse/narrator and the frankly underwhelming Irons. It's an interesting look at the drug-fuelled existence of the rich and famous and possibly not the best extolment of the state of marriage but somehow the whole thing is just a bit sterile, lacking, dry...