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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
"Broken heart again today...
The flowers that i gave to you have withered all away.
Just when i opened up my heart
The one you used to love came and ripped it right apart."
-the last song i will ever write about a girl
ataris
Disclaimer:
This movie review is a biased one. Coincidentally, this movie tells the story of my life a few years ago, my great “depression” so to speak, pretty much all of my friends knows how the story goes and after seeing this movie you would probably know too. That has been a closed chapter in my life but this movie just simply made me write about it again. This review is also lengthy but I tell you its interesting enough to make you read until the end.
Movie Review: 500 days of Summer
Boy meets Girl. Boy fell in love with the girl. Girl does not.
That’s how simple the story goes but what makes this movie great is the way the story is told. As soon as the credit starts this movie already got me. The disclaimer in the beginning of the movie would surely catch you’re attention. Believe me. It’s funny.
I also like that the movie used a narrator. It makes it feel that you’re not simply seeing a movie but it feels like you’re listening to somebody telling you story. I admire how the narrator tells you at the beginning of the movie that this is NOT a love story. True, its not, it’s a romance / comedy / tragedy. If I remember it correctly, back in college I learned the difference between romance and a love story. You might think they’re the same; they’re similar but are not the same. A love story is where you’re main characters lived happily ever after however in romance, the characters may fall in love but they wouldn’t end up together in the end.
The presentation of this movie is also pretty much simple. No breathtaking camera angles, no picturesque view, no dramatic effect or anything, the camera shows you what it wants to tell you. Though I loved how they added choreograph dancing and clips of black and white movies. It made the movie funny, relaxing and not too serious nor dramatic. The soundtrack was simply superb. The right song was played at the right time; it depicts the emotions in each scene.
The actors were simply amazing. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was simply the right guy to play the part. He’s just your average guy, somebody you could relate to, someone who can simply be you or me. It’s a good thing that they didn’t get an A-list actor because that would have just made this movie like any other “Hollywood” movie that you’ve already seen. As for Summer (Zooey Deschanel), man, she’s just simply stunningly beautiful. She’s now my new crush. Summer is a girl that has this beauty that makes you want to look a second time when she passes by. A girl that would shut you up no matter how loud you are, you know what I’m talking about, I cant describe it correctly but I know you had experienced it at a time or another.
The strength of this movie lies in its story telling. It doesn’t have the usual things that you would find in a movie, no big name movie actors, no camera effects, nothing really special but what makes it special is its simplicity. It doesn’t have any bullshit, crappy, cheesy dialogues. I would have to say that this is story telling at its purest and with all honesty. The movie tells you that not all stories have a fairytale ending. Not everybody lives happily ever after and for the most people they ended up being left alone and hurt. The movie might have shown bitterness in the story, true but it’s needed because it might have been what they have felt at some point in the story. Bottom-line is may it be a negative or a positive reflection but it was still an honest presentation of the story.
Tom might have been bitter towards the end of the movie but why wouldn’t he? I think he has every right to be. After all the wonderful things that happened between him and Summer it just ended all of a sudden, for no good reason at all, it just simply ended. Now think of it happening to you wouldn’t you be angry, frustrated, depressed and bitter as well. It makes you think what you did wrong? You would end up going around in circles and still wouldn’t have the answer, believe me, I’ve been there.
The movie tells shows how its ok to sulk for some time but after sulking you need to MOVE ON. Time wouldn’t stop for you and you don’t have the right to make the people around you miserable like you do. The movie somehow gives you a definition of what love is about, its no fairytale, its not destiny nor fate. Love in the movie tells you that love simply happens without any reason at all. Love would bring out the best and the worst in you but that’s how it is, there’s really no definition to it, it’s a feeling, you’d just believe in it when it hits you.
What I like most about the movie is the ending. This has got to be one of the films that has the best ending. It tells you that no matter how tragic you’re story turned out to be there’s still hope. As cliché as it may seem but its true, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, simply believe, you’d have your own happy ending in the future.
In the end, after Summer, there’d be Autumn.
Rating: 5/5
• After doing that review, it just made me want to share with all of you a preview of my on-going comic book project. Its somehow similar to the movie but I guess my own version to it.hehe. Hopefully I get to finish it by next year and eventually publish it. This project has been long overdue, its been already 3 years in the making (and counting). Here’s a page from the script. Id love to hear what you guys think. Just hit me up in the comments section. Thanks.
Page 14
PANEL 1
CAP: After that day, everything went by so fast. I was practically overtaken by the flow. Thinking ‘bout it now made me realize it happened so quickly I didn’t even have time to catch my breath. Everything was a complete blur. EVERYTHING.
PANEL 2
CAP: I wasn’t ready for her. And she carried on, oblivious to how much everything she did affected ME.
PANEL 3
CAP: Days turned to WEEKS. Weeks turned into months. There wasn’t one moment, one single moment, that wasn’t perfect.
She made everything PERFECT. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. SHE made it all PERFECT.
PANEL 4
CAP: Before she came into my life, everything had its distinct place. A pulse. A rhythm. Having her around heightened everything. Time spent apart was hell. And time spent together was never long enough. Maybe this was the kind of happiness they talked about in books and songs and children’s drawings. Maybe it was REAL AFTER ALL.
PANEL 5
CAP: Life is a funny truth you struggle to get your head around. I’d seen plenty of people come and go in my life. Not one of them ever quite managed to make everything stand still the way she could.
PANEL 6
CAP: Strange. A world made up of over eight billion people …. and it only takes one to reshape the universe.
I sent an S.O.S tonight
