This film is sooo full of bittersweet memories. Just caught it again when it screened on Ch 5 yesterday.
I ‘discovered’ it before many others when i was on holiday overseas. Happened to just chance upon it when i had nothing else to do that day and caught it alone.
The first part of the movie is mostly about the sadness, heartache, agony and misery of love, both lost and newly found. The second part brings sweet happiness to some and a bittersweet way to deal with it for others.
Of course, some of the plotlines resonated more with me. My favourites would be Emma Thompson crying when she realises there is someone else in her husband’s life; the guy who loves Keira Knightley, poignantly saying ‘it’s self-preservation’ and ‘Enough. Enough’; and Laura Linney silently crying when Rodrigo Santoro leaves the office sometime after the botched night. Silent tears and unspoken sadness never lose their power over me. Yes, seems it is the sadder bits that resonate with me. I have been thru those periods where it is clearly one-sided, yet to reach that point where it is reciprocated. Possibly, the ’yet’ is redundant.
But all that aside, despite the heart-wrenching pain, it is a nice feeling, even when you know that it will never come to fruition. An impossible fantasy, rationally enough, is more comforting than utter realism of the bleak and despondent future. Even when you know that fantasy will morph into the bleak and despondent future you were trying to avoid. So much for fat hopes and slim chances.
Maybe 1 line should resonate more with me than others. When Colin wants to go to America, his friend tells him that he is ‘a lonely ugly arsehole’. Hey, you talking to me?
Kind of a pity that the storyline of the body doubles has been dropped from the edited version on tv. In the matter of the flesh, there was purity of the heart.
And as the year comes to a close, with christmas just round the corner, it all just gets more depressing.
With 16 days left of this year, is there a miracle in the making?
Surprise me.