For those of you who haven’t seen.
Honestly, I can’t even handle how amazing this looks.
Filed under: film
First time director Marc Webb takes us on a refreshingly realistic look at the make and break of a modern day relationship, jumping back and forth through time to examine various stages of the relationship, removed almost entirely from their chronological sequence. This is a clever and unique way of dissecting each day the couple spends together in order to ultimately find the cause of failure.
We are introduced to the characters by an omniscient narrator describing Tom (played brilliantly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as a man who will not find contentment until he finds “the one”, and Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel) as quite the opposite: a realist who thinks of love in the same respect as Santa Clause; a fantasy passed down to each generation in order to make life seem a little less bleak. This setting the relationship off to a rocky start, and reveals itself as an issue throughout. The most obvious instance being Tom’s fantastical dance sequence through the streets after a first night with Summer. Aided by random pedestrians, an animated blue bird, and even a self reflection of Han Solo in a car window, it further reinforces Summer’s view of love as fantasy and Tom’s clearly skewed depiction of reality.
Though neither character is particularly likeable, both contain very realistic and relatable qualities. Tom is needy and often smothering, while Summer is cold and distant.. an uncommonly portrayed role-reversal between the ideas of male and female, but succeeds at being relatable and more importantly, understandable by our own personal experiences, whether or not we were on the giving or receiving end. They aren’t perfect nor do they pretend to be, and that gives the film an air of truth as well as an unbiased view of their relationship as a whole.
Break up over pancakes aside, you first witness their love spiral downward when the film shows a playful date at Ikea on Day 31 where the couple is laughing, flirting, and venturing into each section of the store, playing a game of house. Then one at the same store suffering on Day 238. Tom attempts to reinact Day 31, but with no response from Summer. Just a simple glance is all she’ll give. This is where you realize that hoping for a happy ending for the couple is useless. Tom is increasingly needy and Summer is increasingly uninterested, showing there truly hasn’t been a change for either of them since their first meet.
Accepting this fate alone makes the film rewarding. No matter how much you want to believe they are meant for each other. No matter how much you desire happiness for them, you’re ultimately relieved it worked out the way it did. (500) Days of Summer is the least romantic romantic-comedy of the summer, and it works precisely because it refutes everything romantic films stand for.
Filed under: film
500 Days of Summer |Marc Webb, 2009|
“Tom, I know you think she was the one, but I don’t. I think you should look back, and not just at the good stuff.”
Spirited Away |Hayao Miyazaki, 2001|
“What’s going on in here?”
“Something you wouldn’t recognize. It’s called love.”
The Shop Around the Corner |Ernst Lubitsch, 1940|
“Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.”
La Belle et la Bete |Jean Cocteau, 1946|
Tell No One |Guillaume Canet, 2009|
Laura |Otto Preminger, 1944|
“I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a huge magnifying glass. It was the hottest Sunday in my recollection. I felt as if I were the only human being left in New York. I had just begun Laura’s story when another of those detectives came to see me. I had him wait.”
The Graduate |Mike Nichols, 1967|
“Mrs. Robinson, if you don’t mind my saying so, this conversation is getting a little strange.”
Public Enemies |Michael Mann, 2009|
“We’re having too good a time today. We ain’t thinking about tomorrow.”
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |David Yates, 2009|
“In my life, I have seen things that are truly horrific. Now I know you will see worse.”
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |Mike Nichols, 1966|
“Martha, in my mind, you’re buried in cement right up to the neck. No, up to the nose. It’s much quieter.”
