Kate and Leo back together again, but if you are looking for Titanic 2, you've come to the wrong place, thankfully. Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, American Beauty, Jarhead) directs this adaptation of the classic William Yates novel of the same name. It is the story of a couple, April and Frank Wheeler, and their journey in 1950's suburbia. It is a story of dreams, both broken and realized. A story of love and betrayal. A story of pain and more pain, and how people learn to live with society's assumptions and realities.
Frank and April meet when they are both young, ambitious, exciting, and adventurous. But they buy in to the new suburban ideal, if "only for a while." So they move out of the city, have kids, Frank gets a job he hates, April stays home, etc. etc. etc. They had originally decided they would only do this for a while, then "truly live." Their ideal is Paris, a city where "people really live." April finally decides that they need to actually live their dream, and Frank agrees, so they start telling people that they are going to up and move to France. They have two kids, but then April gets pregnant and this could spoil their plans, or not. Then Frank gets a promotion, is offered more money, and this could ruin their plans, or not. The rest of the story is where it gets interesting.
Each of these characters is buying in to this distant vision of greener pastures somewhere else, where people are truly alive, this ideal that cannot truly be grasped. But they are also struggling with this suburban ideal. They are torn between the two. The true answer to their problem of discontentment is to see the value they have around them, their kids, their marriage, and ultimately God (who they think is just a part of the suburban thing instead of a real being to have a relationship with). They are looking for something to satisfy them, each in different ways. They are looking in all the wrong places, as cliche as it sounds. And this starts to spiral out of control.
Revolutionary Road is also a great study of the struggles of marriage, and how those relationships fail. It is a painful thing to watch. They both feel trapped by this suburban thing, this boring life, and see marriage as a part of that. April especially wants to do anything to get out, she feels trapped, and she doesn't care who she hurts. She is the most heartwrenching example of a passive-aggresive home-wrecker I can remember. The home she wants to wreck is her own.
The irony of the film is that the only one who is not afraid to speak the truth about reality, about the way things really are, is labeled insane and sent to a mental health facility. He is only let out for a hour at a time to visit his family and friends. His name is John, and every scene that John appears in is a breath of fresh air, a welcome break from the charade. Thank God for someone who doesn't care about the social mores.
In the end Revolutionary Road is a beautifully written story of discontentment, and our search for love. The cinematography is pitch-perfect, along with the acting (in my humble opinion, we get career best performances from both Kate and Leo in this one. Kate is especially fantastic, and I hope she gets a little golden statue). And it all builds to an apropo conclusion, one that can be seen a mile away, but cannot be averted.
What are we taking our stock in, what is our fantasy? Suburbia? Paris? Security? Adventure? What should it be?
4 comments:
Saw this movie, liked it, but I was disappointed. I felt like, as was the case with almost every other movie this year, it was really well done, but the script was lacking. While I got the point, I don't think it really got to that point very well. To me, it seemed as though after the part when Leo is offered the higher position, the movie was over. The rest was all extraneous and super predictable. The performances were fantastic. The shots were as well. I was just really disappointed. Maybe I had too high of expectations.
Really? I loved the script, I thought it really captured the way couples actually interact sometimes. But if you are looking for a phenomenal script, check out Rachel Getting Married, if you haven't yet.
I really want to! I will see it soon enough.
While watching Revolutionary Road I felt like I was on the outside looking in. I was completely engrossed in the film (seeing as some of the scenes hit dangerously close to home.) Kate and Leo put on a beautiful performance together. The music was breath taking and captured each emotion perfectly. I must agree whole heartedly with your review and I must also add that you are an amazingly gifted writer. Very talented indeed.
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