In Colombia just after the Great War, an old man falls from a ladder; dying, he professes great love for his wife. After the funeral, a man calls on the widow - she dismisses him angrily. Flash back more than 50 years to the day Florentino Ariza, a telegraph boy, falls in love with Fermina Daza, the daughter of a mule trader.

Javier Bardem
as Florentino Ariza

Giovanna Mezzogiorno
as Fermina Daza

Benjamin Bratt
as Juvenal Urbino

John Leguizamo
as Lorenzo Daza

Fernanda Montenegro
as Transito Ariza

Catalina Sandino Moreno
as Hildebranda Sanchez

Alicia Borrachero
as Escolastica

Liev Schreiber
as Lotario Thurgot

Laura Harring
as Sara Noriega

Héctor Elizondo
as Don Leo