Luke
stu-kicks
Cibbuano(500) Days of Summer
January 31st 2010 22:15
There's a great moment in (500) Days of Summer when the all-knowing voice-of-God narrator butts in to tell us "There are only two kinds of people in this world: men, and women". It's a hilariously matter-of-fact observation that resonates because it also happens to be true, and it pretty much sums up this movie. From the outset we're told that this isn't a love story, but even with this preparation it's hard not to take some damage away from the sobering reality the filmmakers put onto this disarmingly glossy canvas. There's a certain degree of distance that the film's narration puts between the viewer and the doomed protagonist, Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who emerges as an utterly charming leading man), that allows for both amusement and sadness in his predicament. I guess you could call this film a comedy but it also puts you through the same blender that Tom goes through.
Tom is a greetings card writer who yearns to be an architect. In his workplace he meets Summer (the adoreable Zooey Deschanel), and he falls head over heels in love with her. The rest of the film jumps back and forth through the 500 days that he and Summer spend together. The obstacle that appears and disappears throughout their relationship is the subject of love itself... Tom loves Summer, without question, whereas Summer doesn't believe in love at all and won't even acknowledge Tom as her 'boyfriend'. It sounds a bit melodrammatic, but it's not. The film doesn't treat it in an overly serious, ponderous manner... it's very much a snapshot of life; equal parts laughter, anger, crying and all the other emotions we experience in the real world. The film wisely rejects a more linnear form of storytelling in order to prepare the viewer for the non-Hollywood treatment of it's subject matter. So yes, it's depressing, but it's also a story that doesn't normally get told to us in such a life-affirming, entertaining fashion, so there's value in it.
We're given more than a few clues as to where the relationship is heading (and why) when Tom and Summer first get together. She says that she isn't looking for a relationship because she doesn't believe in them, and he replies to the effect that they'll "take it slow". We know that it's not what she means. We also know that Tom probably knows this too, but because he's so hopelessly smitten with her he's also fundementally unable to accept it, so he'll say whatever she needs to hear at this point just to continue being with her. And he still can't disconnect from her as the story moves on, no matter how miserable he gets.
Director Marc Webb and the writer(s) employ more than a few inventive quirks to help counterbalance these downer aspects of the story... for one scene we're given a split screen that shows Tom's expectations vs. reality, and for another scene he walks down the street in misery while his flair for architecture erupts onto the screen and renders the New York landscape as a fantastic black and white sketch. There's also a wonderful sequence featuring my favourite Hall & Oates song, You Make My Dreams Come True, that completely won me over... it's one of those soaring moments where the power of cinema makes it possible to project an emotion (in this case, sheer joy) directly off the screen. I won't tell you how as I wouldn't want to spoil it, but it's a bravura moment that elevates the movie above it's cut-and-paste contemporaries.
I'm the biggest crybaby when it comes to movies. Sometimes I feel so manipulated by a film's efforts to make me cry but still can't help it at all. I was about 24 minutes into (5oo) Days of Summer and I just knew that this movie was going to destroy me. It was clear from the beginning that this film was about the immutability of two people in a relationship whose worldviews are resolutely incompatible, but I didn't want to believe it. If you're a romantic like Tom you'll want to hang on through this movie even though you think you can guess how it ends. All I will say is that it's worth hanging in there, the movie is an entire experience and is so much more than just the sum of it's parts.
| 52 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
500 days of Summer was a really enjoyable diversion. I'm a massive fan of the two leads, but not a rom com guy traditionaly. This one can sit beside the likes of High Fidelity, Singles and War of the Roses on the DVD shelf.