THE CHEWER COLUMN #18

For the Love of the Game

No, not basketball. The game of love!

Some of Avalon's Fave Romantic Dramas for Adults

I know we have a few romantics on CHUD and I'd love to pull the rest of you out of hiding.  I'm also hoping to reach those of you that may have bypassed these gems because of a possible "chick flick" = blech mentality. If you have ever been in love; are falling in love; fell out of love; are in love; experienced unrequited love; or you're just bored on a Saturday night -- looking to "score" --  these may do the trick.  That should cover everyone, right?  Good!  Then you have no reason to pass these up, if you have.

What films of the romance genre have resonated with you the most?  What are some others that you'd like for all of us to consider?  Why has Joseph Fiennes remained the real reason why you watch… eh, scratch that one.

By Kathleen Ryan

Member since 6/21/02

Chicago, Illinois

Born 3/8/57

1. The Bridges of Madison County - 1995

"This kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime."

Valid proof that the final outcome can be greater than the script (trust me, I read the first draft), this first time author's (Robert James Waller) 1992 novel remained on the New York Times best-seller list for 3-years while holding the top spot for 38-weeks.  In 1995, it topped Gone With The Wind as the best-selling fiction book of all time.  Still not convinced?  I'll continue.

John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa where part of the film was shot.  By golly, he was.  Still not convinced?  Okay... how about:

Directed, co-produced and starring Clint Eastwood and the ever so talented Meryl Streep!  This film takes a mature look into choices and consequence; reality and longing; learning about ones self through another.  You can almost smell the loam through the screen while getting a true enough glimpse of life in a sleepy Iowa town circa 1965.  From the faded photographs to the details of antiquity in the "farm country" kitchen, the scenes are rich and warm, earthy, like the loam and the thickness of Streep's Italian accent.

Without giving too much away, the story is told in flashback via three journals that Streep (Francesca Johnson) has purposely left for her children to find, so that they can know the "whole" person.  Francesca's children (Carolyn & Michael) learn enough from the journals about a love shared so deep between two people, that they pause to question themselves regarding their own spousal selections.  Francesca is a devoted and doting wife and mother who has lost herself along the way, somewhere between the Italy of her youth and the stagnation of her mundane and somewhat sheltered Iowa existence.  A former teacher and dreamer of a better life, her outer shell is slowly chipped away as she steadily falls for an enigmatic, engaging and well-traveled photographer for National Geographic magazine.  He takes a mutual, curious interest which then re-ignites the fire of her more spirited self, long forgotten. 

If this film doesn't grab you; the "truck handle" scene should.  If not, then you can bet your bottom that the love theme "Doe Eyes" co-written by Lennie Niehaus and Eastwood will -- or, if not, the special UPS delivery.  If you still aren't convinced that this is a tear-jerker of the highest order, you're either dead or asleep.  Nah, you're dead.

I hope you check it out, but you may want to wait until after seeing the film to click below. You'll appreciate the film a little more, plus it gives a tiny bit more of the story away. 

Here is a link to the real bridges used in the film. Since 1970, an annual festival is held in Winterset, Iowa the second weekend of October, drawing upwards of 100,000 people.  The next one will be held 10/8-10/9 2005.

http://www.madisoncounty.com/bridge.html 

Also, if you click on The Movie link at the bottom of that page, you can see the town and set locations used in the film; as well as other links where I took some of the information for this article.  Enjoy! 

2. The Way We Were - 1973

Hubbell - "Katie, you expect so much!"

Katie - "Ohhh, but look what I've got."

No, I'm not asking you to join in the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Alzheimer's Society, though that would be okay. I'm inviting you to view a film that is so far removed from the standard clichéd romance. Not by any means your standard wallflower girl wants boy - wallflower girl wins boy in the end. Oh, no no no. This film epitomizes the exact opposite. Unrequited love. What it's like to love someone when they don't love you in return. Or rather, not attracted to you in the "right" way. That no matter how you may go through the different emotions and scenarios of a seemingly true, committed relationship; the outcome is not always as one would hope it to be.

In Moulin Rouge we learned that "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return". Here we learn that you can be the gift that keeps on giving and still wind up with nothing but bittersweet "memories of the way we were". The theme song is so fitting for this Sydney Pollack work. Though Barbra was nominated for her role, it was the music that won two Oscars for best song and best score; and made Redford a household name as best model for "a man in uniform" long before Richard Gere attempted the feat.

K-k-katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) is in a word -abrasive. A staunch defender of radical causes, she speaks her mind and too often. Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) is the popular golden-boy star athlete on their college campus circa 1937. These two are total opposites, so naturally, they are going to be drawn to each other like white on rice when they per chance run into each other eight years later. Well, it takes a little pushing on Katie's part - "What kind of pie?", but she does manage to land the fella. To a certain degree.

Quite simply, she believes in him and his talent as a writer. What's not to love about her, right? Wrong. She's committed alright, and part of what drew him to her. For his own sake and sanity, she is his ego feed. However, her deep commitment also involves her political views that Hubbell isn't quite ready to back. He prefers to take the easy road as things always came too easily for him anyway. She rocks the boat too much. He supports her attendance at a costume party disguised as Harpo (the silent one) Marx. Heh. Even that didn't last long.

In a nutshell, their unsubtle differences in the way that they approach things throughout the film causes constant head-butting, and the eventual demise of the relationship that Katie is trying so hard to hold onto.

At one point, he tries to break it off with her. He's had his fill of her views and she's driving him crazy. She speaks the words that make him think twice and they again continue down the same path to their inevitable conclusion. Their love reaches its pinnacle after Hubbell becomes a screenwriter in Hollywood. The McCarthy era communist witch hunt is in full swing, and again, Hubbell wants to take the passive way out; whereas Katie is adamant about taking her liberal thinking to Washington to back the Hollywood 10. There's no doubt left in the viewer’s mind that she would have gone alone. Her college friends had always found her qualities admirable, whereas most of his friends felt she was too rebellious in the grand scheme of things.

The show these two displayed in public meant little as their roof of indifference comes crashing in upon them. In the end, Hubbell proves to be a sell-out; to himself, to Katie, and to...well, you'll have to watch it and see. This kind of tear jerker is painful to watch because you feel a real sense of something very special pitched aside due to lack of understanding and caring. Being forced to let go when left with no other choice, you can't help but feel that Katie is the real winner here (in a people sense), because of her unwavering commitments to her causes and the man she undoubtedly loved.