The Bridges of Madison County

"A love like this happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca, it was later."

1995 2h 15m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 2,451🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●69Metacritic★7.6IMDB · 94,556

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.

“A love like this happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca, it was later.”

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Cast

Meryl Streep
Francesca Johnson
Clint Eastwood
Robert Kincaid
Annie Corley
Caroline Johnson
Victor Slezak
Michael Johnson
Jim Haynie
Richard Johnson
Sarah Zahn
Young Carolyn
Christopher Kroon
Young Michael
Phyllis Lyons
Betty

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Richard LaGravenese, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood
Languages: English
Countries: 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

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. 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 Lennie Niehaus. 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 Joel Cox 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

Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and Annie Corley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A love like this happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca, it was later.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0112579 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Lennie Niehaus scores. Joel Cox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 7.6× over at the box office.
231 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and Annie Corley carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A love like this happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca, it was later.".
8IMDB entry: tt0112579 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "adultery", "secret love", "husband wife relationship", "based on novel or book".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack N. Green
Original score: Lennie Niehaus
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Jeannine Oppewall
Costume design: Colleen Kelsall
Makeup / hair: Michael Hancock
Sound: Les Fresholtz
Runtime: 135 min · 2h 15m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $24,000,000
Box office: $182,000,000
Return: 758% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 69/100
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 94,556 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 19 nominations total

Also by

Clint Eastwood

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-06-22
★ 8/10
Real-life questions about love and infidelity RELEASED IN 1995 and directed by Clint Eastwood, “The Bridges of Madison County” details what happens in 1965 when a world-traveling photographer for National Geographic (Eastwood) inadvertently meets an Iowa Farm wife (Meryl Streep). This is a drama about the nature of eros love and potential infidelity that will only be appreciated by mature viewers. It consists of two people meeting, getting acquainted, discovering something profound and then forced to make decisions that’ll determine the rest of their lives, as well as the consequences for those linked to them. Some questions addressed include: What if you’re married and you meet someone you genuinely romantically love? What if you’re single and you meet a married person you profoundly love? How far do you (or can you) wisely take the relationship? What about others who would be negatively affected by pursuing the relationship? These are all honest questions that most people have to consider at one time or another in their lives. The movie’s not corrupt for asking them or featuring a certain questionable act any more than the story of David & Bathsheba makes the Bible corrupt (or, arguably worse, the story of Judah & Tamar). One character is too loose with morals, which he justifies by criticizing all the “borders” in life. But there are boundaries everywhere: National, state, county, city, school, government, business, social and… marital. The bottom line is: You’re either married or you’re not. If you’re married that means you have a committed lifelong covenant with your spouse. That’s what taking vows is all about. The movie tries to have its cake and eat it too by supporting such loyalty while flirting with the temptation to discard it in the name of true love. Regardless, the picture smacks of real life, real people, real (hard) decisions and is very well done, which is to be expected with Eastwood at the helm. THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 15 minutes, and was shot in Winterset & Adel, Iowa. GRADE: A-
r96sk2022-02-05
★ 7/10
A bit too cheesy for me to overly enjoy, but <em>'The Bridges of Madison County'</em> is a sweet romantic drama. Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep are a strong pairing and produce very good performances, with Streep particularly standing out... even if her acting Italian doesn't always feel convincing, to me anyway. The parts of the story told via Annie Corley and Victor Slezak aren't the best, though the eventual pay-off with their characters is worthwhile.