Romantic films are a struggle for me cause in real life relationships are nothing like the standard romcom plot of meet cute, excitement, some inconvenient barrier/misunderstanding separating the parties, until they end up running towards each other in a climactic moment. But when movies come along that touch on something closer to real, the complicated and expansive and terrifying nature of falling in love, or even better, living into love over time, they can reach into that place for me. Films like Polley's Take This Waltz or Linklater's Before Midnight or Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, movies that touch on passions that are full of difficult emotions get me. Maybe it speaks to how much I love watching the love between Benedict and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
The Swearing Jar brought some of this out in me. While not perfect, I truly appreciated without saying what it is about (I don't want to spoil it) I found watching Clemens' portrayal of a woman processing many of the challenges of loving. There were times I was frustrated with her character's extreme mood swings but I enjoyed how the film resolved these things for her.
It was wonderful to see Kathleen Turner again, one of my favourite actors from my childhood. And she's very good in this role which asks her to be as fully rounded as Clemens. This is a film about women, yes the men are present but this is about the women and all that they are living through. It is a romance but not in the ways you would expect. It is about being able to love expansively and not have to let go of love.
The Swearing Jar
Starring: Adelaide Clemens, Patrick J Adams, Douglas Smith, Kathleen Turner
Director: Lindsay MacKay
Writer: Kate Hewlett
No comments:
Post a Comment