Thursday, January 22, 2009

500 Days of Summer

Last night I attended the SunDance Film Festival in Park City, UT. As part of the Delta Airlines private screening, I was thrilled to view 500 Days of Summer. The large popcorn with extra butter and a large Dr. Pepper for $453.00 served as the entertainment for Natalie Mutt Nyman and I while we waited for the movie to start.

This movie is a love story, but not a love story. Two dynamic performances from Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) have shaped this film into more than the fairy tale love story that Hollywood so often perscribes to us. It explores the relationships within our society through the microscope of one relationship. The beauty of this plot lies in the unfolding of a story 500 days in length and thousands of pages in depth.

Marc Webb's brilliant directing took me into the lives of Tom and Summer, simple greeting-card writers. I took part in the initial flirting, the budding romance, the hate and depression of a break up. I listened to the story of Tom's heart as he tried to define, label, or simply discover what his role was in Summer's life. The adventures of these two perfectly developed characters are so relatable to me that it is almost frightening. I will not give details of the show, because I think that everybody should see it without too much foreshadowing involved.

The concept that I took from this movie is the power of our minds to change reality. We are immersed inside our memories and forget the naked truth. Often times a fleeting memory of bliss is our emotional defense against remebering the pangs of hurt that really occured. Our minds create a wall, a block, a safe place to guard our hearts from the tremendously destructive power of love.

What is love? Only through letting down our filters of safety can we realize the brutal lies that ours lives are or discover the refreshing truth that yes, we are real. Real, honest, and ourselves. That is love.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait to see this movie. And I loved talking to you last night.

Ashley said...

I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Thanks for giving the heads up on a movie to keep my eyes open for!

Kenton and Haylee said...

Lee....deep writer ye be. And you're lucky to have been able to go to the Sundance Festival. Lucky fool.

Hannah said...

Lee. Beautiful! The last two paragraphs are excellent because they are incredibly true. I miss you. Come to England.

H Bell said...

Great post lee! I really loved it. It's nice when someone else you know secretly have the poets soul!!

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Lydja said...

Lee. You're neat.

John + Bethany said...

I love Sundance! This is the first year in a long time that I didn't attend...I just couldn't get into it this year. I even had a good time slot to buy tickets! Maybe next year...

And welcome to blogging. :-)