Bille August

No matter what films Oscar-winning Danish director Bille August makes in the future, it is a safe bet that none will mean quite as much to him as "The Best Intentions." Earlier this year, August's three-hour film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also brought him into contact with Swedish actress Pernilla Wallgren, who played one of the two leading roles; during preparation for "The Best Intentions," they fell in love.

A tender and compassionate portrait of a couple whose relationship is ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, "A Song for Martin" is the second film involving the illness in as many weeks. Like "Iris," which is based on John Bayley's account of the decline of his wife, famed author Iris Murdoch, "A Song for Martin" deals with the effect of Alzheimer's on an exceptionally gifted artist and his tirelessly supportive spouse.

Isabel Allende is in an enviable position. At 51, the Chilean-born novelist is internationally admired, with five bestsellers already published in 27 languages and a sixth book on the way. And soon her audience will be even wider, thanks to the imminent release of two films based on her novels: "The House of the Spirits" (starring Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons and Winona Ryder, opening Friday) and "Of Love and Shadows" (which will open later this year). But although Allende is poised for newfound cinematic fame, don't imagine that it is because she has courted Hollywood's attention.

Who doesn't know the pleasures of time spent with a great fat novel, one of those sprawling epics that's not shy about taking its time? "Jerusalem" is just such an unapologetically old-fashioned film. At two hours and 46 minutes, it's a long slog at a stately pace, but the kinds of satisfactions it offers don't come any faster, at least not in this life.

Star Power: Meryl Streep and Glenn Close, who have worked separately with Jeremy Irons in other films, will be starring with him in "The House of the Spirits," a new film to be directed by Bille August. The $25-million Neue Constantin production is projected to begin production Jan. 17 in Portugal and Copenhagen, with Antonio Banderas and Pernilla August also starring.

Who doesn't know the pleasures of time spent with a great fat novel, one of those sprawling epics that's not shy about taking its time? "Jerusalem" is just such an unapologetically old-fashioned film. At two hours and 46 minutes, it's a long slog at a stately pace, but the kinds of satisfactions it offers don't come any faster, at least not in this life.

Doing things in a family way in more ways than one, the jury at the 45th Cannes International Film Festival awarded the Palme d'Or to Sweden's "The Best Intentions," directed by Bille August, and gave the best actress prize to his wife, Pernilla August, who was its star. "This is too much, I really don't understand," said a nonplussed August, who previously won the Palme d'Or in 1988 for "Pelle the Conqueror," which went on to take the best foreign language film Oscar in 1989.

A tender and compassionate portrait of a couple whose relationship is ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, "A Song for Martin" is the second film involving the illness in as many weeks. Like "Iris," which is based on John Bayley's account of the decline of his wife, famed author Iris Murdoch, "A Song for Martin" deals with the effect of Alzheimer's on an exceptionally gifted artist and his tirelessly supportive spouse.

Bille August's adaptation of Martin Anderson Nexo's semiautobiographical novel, a landmark of Danish literature, follows the painful boyhood of a Swedish immigrant boy and his elderly, exhausted but loving father (a magnificent performance by Max Von Sydow, pictured right, with Pelle Hvenegaard).

Isabel Allende is in an enviable position. At 51, the Chilean-born novelist is internationally admired, with five bestsellers already published in 27 languages and a sixth book on the way. And soon her audience will be even wider, thanks to the imminent release of two films based on her novels: "The House of the Spirits" (starring Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons and Winona Ryder, opening Friday) and "Of Love and Shadows" (which will open later this year). But although Allende is poised for newfound cinematic fame, don't imagine that it is because she has courted Hollywood's attention.

Star Power: Meryl Streep and Glenn Close, who have worked separately with Jeremy Irons in other films, will be starring with him in "The House of the Spirits," a new film to be directed by Bille August. The $25-million Neue Constantin production is projected to begin production Jan. 17 in Portugal and Copenhagen, with Antonio Banderas and Pernilla August also starring.

No matter what films Oscar-winning Danish director Bille August makes in the future, it is a safe bet that none will mean quite as much to him as "The Best Intentions." Earlier this year, August's three-hour film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also brought him into contact with Swedish actress Pernilla Wallgren, who played one of the two leading roles; during preparation for "The Best Intentions," they fell in love.

Doing things in a family way in more ways than one, the jury at the 45th Cannes International Film Festival awarded the Palme d'Or to Sweden's "The Best Intentions," directed by Bille August, and gave the best actress prize to his wife, Pernilla August, who was its star. "This is too much, I really don't understand," said a nonplussed August, who previously won the Palme d'Or in 1988 for "Pelle the Conqueror," which went on to take the best foreign language film Oscar in 1989.

Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd" and Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German" will screen in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 8 through Feb. 18.