The Bridges of Madison County

This romantic drama starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood depicts four days in the lives of a middle aged farmer’s wife and a photo journalist, discovering themselves, one another and a love which will last and sustain them for a lifetime. The intensity of their brief affair and the urge they feel to spend the rest of their lives together offer rich insights into the nature of romance and marriage.

Plot Summary

Francesca and Richard were married and settled down on the Johnson family farm in Madison County. She thought Richard was everything a partner should be -- a loyal, gentle, caring husband, a good father, an honest, responsible, hardworking provider for the family. Together they raised a son and a daughter to adulthood, saw them marry and move on. That was all her family knew or thought about Francesca for all those decades she lived as a caring housewife and mother, but that was not all there was to her or all there was to tell. Upon her death, she bequeathed to her children a diary that told the tale of another Francesca and another life. It was a tale about four days that told a story that lasted a lifetime. It was the story of a young Italian woman with dreams that soared sky high -- dreams of passionate love and romance. Read a detailed plot summary.

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