Water for Elephants

After seeing this photo spread of Reese Witherspoon in US Vogue, I am more excited than ever for this years’ release of her new movie Water for Elephants, in which she stars with Robert Pattinson and Academy Award Winner Christoph Waltz who displayed an excellent performance in Inglourious Basterds. The star-studded cast is a sure sign of how great this film is going to be!

Although the film is officially released on 22 April 2011, a must read is the equally reputedly great book by Sara Gruen. The number one New York Times Bestseller explores the feeble elegance of the Depression-era circus. Jacob Jankowski, an aged man in a nursing home, backtracks to the time when he was a veterinary student at Cornell University. After discovering that his parents were killed in a car accident, he realises that his father was gravely in debt and leaves Cornell. Feeling worthless and distraught, he jumps aboard a train in the middle of the night. The train coincidentally happens to be a circus train carrying the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and Jacob is soon taken under the wings of Uncle Al, the circus owner, who hires him as an animal doctor. His duties force him to work closely with the temperamental head trainer August Rosenbluth and his wife Marlena, whose equestrian performance and beauty attract Jacob and he eventually leads an intimate relationship with her.

The group cross country around America exploiting circus acts that have become impoverished in the Depression-era. After Uncle Al purchases an elephant with an insatiable appetite for lemonade, Rosie, who refuses to perform, the Most Spectacular Show on Earth seems hopelessly lost. Amidst romantic relationships and demonic disputes, the incredible Jacob finally charms Rosie into performing and saves the circus, which evolves to be the heart of the story.

Both the film and the book engage superbly with the eccentric subcultures of acrobats, ringmasters, lion tamers, trapeze acts and clowns, comprehending the spheres of 1930s circus. With Reese Witherspoon as stunning and charming as always, placed next to equally charismatic co-stars Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz, this is set to be one of the best films of the year and I am definitely looking forward to seeing it!