Day 150: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Two couples are having troubles in their lives and relationships. Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) leaves his wife of 40 years because he doesn’t want to accept that he’s old now. Their daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts), wants to start a family and open an art gallery but neither is happening and it puts a strain on her marriage.

It never really occurred to me before how difficult it must be to go through a divorce when you’re a pensioner. I always thought that so long as you had people around then you’d be alright, but obviously that’s just not even close to being correct. Just having people around doesn’t make anyone less lonely, the number of people you have in your life doesn’t have any bearing on the loneliness you feel. Intimacy can reduce loneliness (it can also increase it too, I know), and I don’t mean sexual intimacy, although that too. Even just the little things between you and a partner can reassure you that you’re not alone in this isolating place. And so losing the person closest to you would be hard on anyone but I think perhaps losing them when you’re older would be more difficult. When Alfie leaves her, Helena (Gemma Jones) tries to kill herself and seeks comfort in a fortune teller to try and get through. She spends a lot of her time bothering her daughter and drinking large quantities of alcohol but seems more content now that the fortune teller has told her positive things about her future. Alfie isn’t doing too well; he feels young at heart and after having sex with a young prostitute he proposes to her and lavishes a small fortune on her. She’s not interested in the things he is and she soon cheats on him with a man her own age. He realises that the something extra he wanted out of life was just a dream and he tries to reunite with Helena, but she has moved on. It all seemed rather difficult and I’m not convinced either of them were happy with the choices they made.

Sally has a crush on her new boss and she thinks he might like her too. Her husband, Roy (Josh Brolin), is a writer who is struggling to finish his new novel and he seems reluctant to start a family with her. She decides that what she needs to do is open up an art gallery since that has been her lifelong dream, and her mum has agreed to lend her the money necessary to do so. But she discovers that her boss doesn’t actually feel anything for her and is instead having an affair with her friend, and when she goes to her mum to ask about getting more than the initial amount of money, she is told that she can’t have any of the money. Sally and Roy divorce, her boss has stated he has no interest in her, and her dream of opening a gallery seems to be getting further away. It all gets too much and she takes it out on her mother, calling her an idiot for listening to this fortune teller. Despite being supportive of her mother’s apparent improvement due to the meetings with the fortune teller, hearing that she can’t have the money seems to be the last straw and she lets out all the vicious feelings she had been holding back. Everything she wanted in life has been ripped away all quite quickly and so she hits out at the easiest target.

Instead of working within the relationship to improve their lives and help each other, they choose to look for what they want away from their partners. I want to hope most people would try to make it work within their relationship but I don’t think that’s actually what happens. It seems that when people feel some sort of dissatisfaction in their lives, they hold those closest to them responsible. It’s almost like they see them as some sort of anchor that is weighing them down and stopping them from moving forward to new and better things. While I’ll agree that some people can be anchors, I don’t think that’s fair for everyone. People will always bring something to your life and especially those closest to you, who you share things with. To blame them for your dissatisfaction is to pick an easy target and it most likely won’t lead to anything good.

The film was alright but I wasn’t bowled over by it. I didn’t really believe any of the characters and so their relationships with each other just seemed forced. The story was interesting, I do like this kind of thing.

6/10

Day 30: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Another day for Scarlett Johansson. And this time we also have Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz. And it’s a Woody Allen film. Spoiled, that’s what I am.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are spending their summer in Spain. Whilst there they meet the devastatingly charming painter, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who takes an instant liking to them both and offers to take them off to a beautiful little town. Oh, and also to make love. He has quite the effect on both women (eventually) and it’s interesting to watch.

When Juan Antonio says that he wishes to sleep with both Vicky and Cristina they react a little differently. Cristina isn’t sure what she wants from life yet so is open to new experiences, while Vicky has a life plan and sleeping with a stranger isn't on it. Both agree to fly off to the town with him but only Cristina says she will sleep with him. With the delightful line, “I’ll go to your room but you’ll have to seduce me.”

Cristina is taken ill and it allows Vicky and Juan Antonio to spend time together. Despite her initial misgivings, Vicky quickly warms to him. He is so honest about his feelings about everything, it’s refreshing actually. It’s coming up again, it’s going to be a recurring feature of this blog but: they clearly enjoy spending time together and it’s lovely. He is quite taken with her even though she isn’t the creative type he seems to favour. They listen to music together and are both moved which goes some way in explaining why Vicky drops her guard and gives in to her feelings for him.

They return and Juan Antonio goes off with Cristina. Vicky isn’t sure what to make of it, her life seemed simple to her before: marry Doug, get a big house, live practically. But now it’s all changed and she can’t stop thinking about this impulsive man. Meanwhile, Cristina moves in with Juan Antonio and eventually his ex wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz). While awkward at first they all realise they complement each other nicely and their relationship evolves to include the three of them.

Having more than two people in a relationship has always interested me. Can you find everything you need or want in just one person? I don’t know what the average number of relationships people have in their lives is but each person must have given you something a little different to the last. So why not have more than one other person in a relationship at a time? Perhaps people would be happier that way, relationships might last longer and there might be fewer instances of cheating. I don’t know, it just seems to make sense to have more than just two people in a relationship.

The intensity of Penélope Cruz is wonderful. And I just love the spontaneity all throughout the film and that everyone is so honest about their feelings.

8/10

Day 23: Love and Death

Napolean is invading Russia which means Boris (Woody Allen) has to join the army. That puts a bit of a dent in his plans, being that he is a pacifist and useless with weapons. He just wants to marry Sonja (Diane Keaton) and preferably live out his life without any murdering. He miraculously survives the battles unscathed and eventually marries Sonja. However, he can’t escape the murdering as she decides they should kill Napolean.

After his return from battle, Boris meets a lovely Countess and disgraces her honour, according to her lover. So, naturally, they must duel. Before he duels, Boris wants to marry Sonja. He's loved her since they were children and he wants her to promise. She promises that she will marry him if he survives the duel, believing that he couldn’t beat the Countess' lover. He does, however, and she has to marry him. She’s worried she’ll feel suffocated and trapped. I’ve always thought about that when I’ve thought about marriage. It seems insane to stay with one person forever, regardless of how amazing they are just now. How could you stay interested in one person forever? I mean, sure, I find people fascinating and I’m constantly surprised by the things they do but to make a commitment to one of them for the rest of my life seems so difficult. And how can you know what you’re going to feel for them years later? Feelings are fluid, I think. One person can be all you think about for a while and then you move on (or you don’t, that’s always less good). To say you’ll always love someone is to lie, in my opinion. You just don’t know that so how can you say it? I will grant you, it is a nice lie. But I’d much prefer people to say “I love you now” rather than “I’ll love you always”. It seems more honest.

Such a funny film. I wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are a wonderful duo and play off each other brilliantly. Sadly I have no time to write as much as I’d like to so I’ll have to stop here.

 “To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness - I hope you’re getting this down.”

8/10

Day 17: Annie Hall

Today I needed to break out one of my favourite films. I don’t really like to admit to my love of Woody Allen films because well, he married his daughter, y’know? It’s difficult to separate that knowledge from the films themselves but I loved this one before I knew about any of that so it’s ok. Totally justified.

Terminal complainer, Alvy (Woody Allen), falls in love with the adorable Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). We’re given glimpses into the time they spend together and you get a general feel to their relationship. They seem an unlikely couple but they work well together all the same. I like that they almost instantly bond; they’re playing tennis then he goes back to her apartment and they’re getting to know each other then he goes to watch her sing and that’s it, the relationship is set. When they have left the club after she sings, I love that he stops her and just says “Hey listen, listen, give me a kiss.” so they can avoid the inevitable awkwardness later in the night. They just kiss and get it over with so they can continue enjoying being around each other without that looming over them.

Diane Keaton is wonderful here. The way she goes “Hi… Hi… Hi… Well… Bye.” is just great. Spot on awkwardness, I love it. She’s so awkward and nervous you can’t help but instantly be drawn to her. I always find myself giggling when she’s on the screen because I just pick up her energy. I’m always drawn to people who seem to just be overflowing with energy and Diane Keaton is no exception. I can tell I'd already be half in love with her if I was Woody Allen here.

Alvy tries to get Annie to read books that give an insight into who he is and while she complains that he thinks she's not smart enough for him, I think that doesn't really factor into what's doing there. When you enter into a relationship with another person (friend or otherwise), you're getting a crash course in who this person actually is and what's important to them. It makes sense to give this new person in your life films and books and music that reflects who you are so they can more easily understand you. If someone was to take a crash course in who I am, I think I'd recommend a variety of things that would help; Frightened Rabbit songs, 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman, 'Deathless' by Catherynne M. Valente, etc. There'd be a whole host of things, really. I'd love it if, when I met a new person, they just sat me down and said "This is what you need to read/watch/listen to in order to even grasp a little of who I am." There's only so much talking you can do, sometimes you need to immerse yourself in the things they enjoy.

These are the kind of romantic comedy type films I like; where the couple doesn’t end up together but they learn something along the way.

9/10