Broken Mystic

Note:  This is not a film critique.  The comments below simply express how the movie made me feel.   Oh and beware of spoilers.

I had a good day yesterday.  I thought watching a movie would be perfect for the night, preferably a romantic film with a happy ending.  I thought “Revolutionary Road” looked pretty interested — a couple going through thick and thin, heaven and hell (or however you want to phrase it), but eventually finding the peace and Love they’re looking for.  Or at least, that’s what I thought it looked like.

I don’t deny that the film is photographed, written, and directed well.  It is.  And the performances by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were amazing, as expected, but my God, what an awfully depressing movie.  The film sparked a lot of emotions in me.  I saw some of my memories in them.  Good memories and bad memories.  Then I got angry when DiCaprio’s character cheated on his wife.  Extremely angry!

But yes, I know the director is showing us how complex these characters are (as well as their lives).  Again, this is not a film critique.  It was nice to see the couple rekindle the spark that brought them together in the first place.  It was inspiring and made me hopeful that faith and belief can overcome obstacles.  But DiCaprio’s character is so pressured into a new job that he can’t pursue his dreams and stick to the plan.  Then everything goes downhill.

I got extremely angry again when Winslet’s character cheats on her husband.  I know these are the kind of emotions the director, Sam Mendes, was trying to invoke.  It was such a painful scene to watch (you never see DiCaprio having sex with the other girl, but you see Winslet).   The next day, a huge argument erupts between DiCaprio and Winslet.  DiCaprio says, “You are not crazy, and you *do* Love me, that’s the point.”   Winslet, caught up in her defense-mechanism of laughing, says  “But I don’t Love you.  You were just some boy who made me laugh at a party.”

Ouch, ouch, ouch.  The crazy part is that when DiCaprio almost breaks into tears at that moment, I know exactly how the character is feeling.  EXACTLY.  Your mind is swirling like crazy, you’re frightened, you’re terrified, you’re hurt, you just flat out feel like you’re going insane.  Someone you Love tells you that they don’t Love you anymore.  God, what a horrible feeling…

And then Winslet’s character tries to have an abortion.  She ends up dieing.  Ok, this was the part of the film where I felt like yelling at the filmmakers.  Why?!  And then people tell me the movie is “realistic.”  Does anyone else notice that almost every movie that has a sad ending is considered “realistic”?  What do you call the films with happy endings?  What, are there no happy people in the world?

The other problem I had is that they try to make Winslet the “crazy wife.”  It seems like the filmmakers want us to feel DiCaprio’s pain more, while making us question whether or not Winslet really Loved her husband.  Women aren’t strong enough for Love or something?  This could have been a great film if the sexism and pessimistic attitude was taken out of it.

I know there are arguments that the film is very complex, but I don’t really have any interest discussing it any further.  The movie just messed with my mind in a weird way. I think people are afraid of happy endings these days.  I wonder why.  Maybe the film was trying to tell us how screwed up society is and how dreams are easily broken.  *shrugs*