This post is not meant as a film
summary/review; it’s more like my commentary on a certain interesting aspect of a film and probably makes more sense to people who have also
watched the movie. Hence, lots of spoiler and not much synopsis. This time, it is
about (500) Days of Summer, a “romantic” US movie directed by Marc Webb in
2009.
Boy met Girl. Boy
fell for Girl. Girl did not want to have a relationship at the moment, but liked
Boy enough to hang up regularly with him. Boy and Girl became close friends. Boy believed
that Girl will eventually fall for him, that the friendship would develop into
a romantic one and they would live happily ever after. Boy was wrong.
(500) Days
of Summer is not the best relationship movie I’ve watched (I’ll give that
spot for Eternal Sunshine of Spotless
Mind, or the Before Sunrise/Before
Sunset dyad), and it is certainly not perfect. Supporting characters are
weak, and there are some parts I don’t like. Most of it though, is really good;
mostly because it shows something that feel real and genuine. Of course, this
is only a good thing if you like realistic movies; if you watch romantic movies
for the escapism and fairy-tale ending, stay very far away from this one.
This
is a story about Tom and Summer, two characters who feel like real people in
real life. Tom is naive and hopelessly in love with Summer, cool pretty girl
with super big eyes and non-mainstream sensibilities (*Ringo is her favorite
Beatle). Tom is a non-aggressive guy, the kind that likes to play it (very)
slow and does not have much relationship experience. When he does fall in love
though, he falls really hard. So hard that even though Summer already told him
she doesn’t want a serious relationship, he keeps expecting things will change
and grow, that she also loves him back, that happy ending is waiting for them
as long as he remains a nice guy and stay close with her. They’re eventually stuck
in this grey area; not just friends, but not quite lovers. Until Summer finally
grows apart from Tom, move on to find her true love, and left poor Tom heartbroken.
What
makes the film really works is how well it portrays Tom’s mindsets. During the
non-linear narrative showing parts of Tom’s 500-day long pseudo-relationship,
there is a couple of scenes showing the
same visual of Summer’s images, each at different periods of the timeline. The first is a madly-in-love Tom’s early
monologue on Summer (*gushing about how much he loves Summer, her teeth, the
way she laughs, etc.), and the second is an angry-and-heartbroken Tom later monologue (*ranting about how much he
hates Summer, her teeth, the way she laughs, etc.). Quite clever.
This
part here is even better, though:
What
happened in the split-screen image is a really funny (and painful) scene. Tom,
about to meet Summer again after a long while, visualized what will happen and
imagined a really special and meaningful reunion. What actually happened is
that Summer gave him a friendly greeting and...left him alone. He never meant
that much to her. This brutal ‘When Fantasy Crushed by Reality’ scene is
accompanied by Regina Spektor’s Hero on the background (no one’s got it all...no one’s got it all), and it’s brilliant.
Easily my favorite part of the film (Spektor contributed a couple of songs for
the film, and she is pretty great singer-songwriter).
Some
people complained that it focused too much on Tom, and not enough on Summer. It
makes Summer the villain, and the audience never really find out why the hell
she tortured poor Tom. I disagree, because I think I understand what’s up with Summer. She does not have any romantic interest in Tom, but
because he is a nice guy and good friend she hangs out with him. Classic “I don’t
want him as a lover, but I don’t want to lose him as a friend” female problem. When
she realizes that she may not be able to ever return Tom’s feelings, she pulls
away. Summer made a mistake, but Tom did as well. They both were being naive
and selfish, but it’s humane and understandable. It happened all the time to many
good guys and girls everywhere.
I
don’t really like the ending, I guess. I like the resolution when Tom finally let
Summer go and start to pursue his passion in architecture; that’s the ideal way
to move on. I don’t think having him meet a new girl in the job interview is
really necessary, but I do like how he approaches the girl in a more forward
and confident way that suggested he has learned valuable lesson from his
pseudo-relationship thing with Summer. Then, the girl revealed her name, and it’s
Autumn. Haha....no. Just no.
Anyway,
the tagline of (500) Days is “This Is Not A Love Story.” Kind of incomplete,
IMHO, it’s more like “This Is Not A Love Story That Ends The Way You Want.”
Because it IS a love story, an authentic and realistic one.
The
joy of being close friend with the one you love. The fear of direct rejection,
the desire to play it safe. The disappointment when the idealized concept in
your mind does not match with how the reality develops. The anger when your
love stops being the perfect creature that you used to think she is. And
finally, the crushing bitter realization that after all this time spent
together, she does not love you back the way you do.
I
knew and understood that feeling.
