The Honorary Consul

"First they betrayed him. Then they gambled with his life."

1983 1h 44m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 61

ActionDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set in a small politically unstable Latin American country, the story follows the half English and half Latino Dr. Eduardo Plarr, who left his home to find a better life. Along the way he meets an array of people, including British Consul Charley Fortnum, a representative in Latin America who is trying to keep Revolution from occurring. He is also a remorseful alcoholic. Another person the doctor meets is Clara, whom he immediately falls in love with, but there is a problem: Clara is Charley's wife.

“First they betrayed him. Then they gambled with his life.”

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Cast

Michael Caine
Charley Fortnum
Richard Gere
Dr. Eduardo Plarr
Bob Hoskins
Colonel Perez
Elpidia Carrillo
Clara
Joaquim de Almeida
Leon
A Martinez
Aquino
Stephanie Cotsirilos
Marta
Domingo Ambriz
Diego

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Mackenzie
Writers: Christopher Hampton
Languages: Spanish, English, Latin
Countries: United Kingdom

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

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, English, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Mackenzie, shot by Phil Meheux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Caine and Richard Gere and Bob Hoskins carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "First they betrayed him. Then they gambled with his life.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0085236 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 61 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Mackenzie directs. Phil Meheux behind the camera. Stuart Baird cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in Spanish, English, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

143 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, English, Latin.
3Directed by John Mackenzie, shot by Phil Meheux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Stuart Baird shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Michael Caine and Richard Gere and Bob Hoskins carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "First they betrayed him. Then they gambled with his life.".
7IMDB entry: tt0085236 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 61 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "diplomat", "adultery", "based on novel or book", "kidnapping".

The technical file

Cinematography: Phil Meheux
Editing: Stuart Baird
Production design: Allan Cameron
Costume design: Barbara Lane
Makeup / hair: Nick Dudman
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,800,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Honorary Consul (1983)

Also by

John Mackenzie

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-12-07
★ 6/10
With both Paraguay and Argentina under junta governments, doctor "Eduardo" (Richard Gere) returns to his homeland where he quickly befriends the eponymous gent "Fortnum" (Michael Caine) before making even closer friends with his somewhat open-minded wife "Clara" (Elpidia Carrillo). Ostensibly an upstanding member of the community it soon becomes clear that this physician is conflicted, and that comes to an head when his dipso friend is charged with driving the US Ambassador to visit a waterfall. The rebels get wind of this trip and plan to kidnap the visiting diplomat, but they get the wrong man and aren't impressed with the boozed-up light-weight that find themselves stuck with. Still, they can still use him as leverage to have some of their colleagues released from jail, or can they? Does anyone really care about this man who's frankly become a bit of a nuisance, a liability even? The only chance poor old "Fortnum" might have is if local police chief "Perez" (Bob Hoskins) can find where he is being held before his captors lose patience, or run out of whiskey! Caine is on quite good form here as he takes to the role of the alcoholic convincingly, and though he really only features sparingly his is by far the better effort. Otherwise, there's lots of sex between Gere and Carrillo, but their personas remain largely undercooked by a weak script and a rather limited supporting cast who underplay the freedom-fighting elements of the plot and render them a little better than a sideshow. It's really only a vehicle for Gere, this film, and an unremarkable one at that.

Production companies