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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: The Story: 5. Robert and the Eastwood Persona

« on: February 07, 2003, 12:59:54 PM »

How about when he was the burglar in "absolute power". There he started as a loner too, but throu the movie he tries to get closer to his daughter again.  And at the end it just looks like there could be a real good relationship between them (even with a son in law

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: The Story: 7. Francesca's Anger

« on: February 07, 2003, 12:43:51 PM »

Since nobody else want's to begin, I'll give my point of view  .
I believe she's angry because she's afraid he just had a little fun with her. That would mean that she betrayed her husband for nothing.

... I'll have to sit here for the rest of my life and wonder what happened, if anything happened...

She hopes  that there's more but she isn't sure. So she almost has to provoke Robert. (When she asked him the night before about him as a child, he didn't want to answer). So if she really wants an answer on this one, there's no other way than to force him to answer. And I think she is afraid of the answer at the same time, because whatever he says, it won't be easy. I guess you cannot go through situations like this calm, nice and  easy.
There are more reasons that come to my mind, but I think it all fits together, so I just wonder what you think of it.

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: The Story: 1. Themes

« on: February 07, 2003, 11:20:01 AM »

Like Doug, I think it's about much more than adultery.  One theme could be that Robert allows himself to get involved, not as a voyeur but for real. I imagine that one reason for travelling around so much and being a loner is the freedom of doing whatever you want to in such a life. Everytime someone get's too close, you just move on. For some reason (maybe age, wisdom, ...?) Robert allows deeper feelings than ever before in his life. The man who doesn't want to need anyone falls in love. He can't just move on this time without leaving something behind, he finally dared to feel! I know some people who are so afraid of loosing they never allow themselves to fall in love, because they might loose. But Robert dares, and I think this, for me, is an important theme in this story.

One other is: "we are the choices we make". This is one reason I feel only persons of a certain age can really understand this movie. As a teenager this wouldn't have meant anything to me, but now I'm married, have children, have a buisness, so my view changed. It's about not being able to do all the things you'd want to do, because of committements. A french singer (Jean-Jacques Goldman) sings this really well:

  ...puisq'il faut apprendre
     à défaut de le comprendre
     à rêver nos désirs et vivre les ainsi-soit-ils...

(My translation is not very good, it says about
... since we have to learn
    even if we don't understand
    to dream our desires but live life as it is...

Beautiful song!!!

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: Style and Technique: 7. Symbolism

« on: February 07, 2003, 10:50:55 AM »

Could the bridges be the symbol for the new things Robert and Francesca learn about themselves? Francesca crosses a bridge/boundary because she falls in love with Robert. She, the committing and responsible wife of Richard crosses that bridge and falls in love with a stranger.  And Robert, the man who doesn't want to need anything/anyone finds himself needing Francesca, which certainly is a big change. By letting this happen both do things they can't undo, they are on the other side of the river after these four days. This implies that they both are changed after their experience, and in my personal opinion, they very much are.

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: Acting: 2. Streep's Body Language and Accent

« on: February 07, 2003, 06:13:41 AM »

wow, debate is really going on now

I realized after your reactions that I was probably comparing apples to pears. The italian accent I am a little familiar with is that of people still talking italian most of their time. I kind of forgot that there will be a big difference if you still speak your native tongue or if you don't. But I still miss the typical rolling "r" in Streeps accent, though. Matt, Do your grandparents not have this very typical way of pronouncing the "r" which is so different from the way you pronounce it in English? That's why the accent Streep acts doesn't seem quite right to me.
When I said that she could have lost her accent I didn't meen to say that everybody does loose accents, I know most people don't. I just meant to say that even if Streep hadn't spoken english with an accent, it might still have been believable for her to be from Italy originally.

About her acting. I was very grateful that her bodylanguage was so clear. I had no idea what the story was about when I saw the movie the first time. I wouldn't have understood her thoughts if they hadn't been visible on her face. You can almost hear her feelings, at least I thought I could. This helps a lot, I think. In the book Waller wrote two pages for every answer, in the movie one word and the body language says it all. That's what made the film so good

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: Acting: 2. Streep's Body Language and Accent

« on: February 06, 2003, 12:34:39 PM »

I hope I don't hurt anyone but I think the accent was a waste of time. Living in Europe (I'm not Italian, but I know how an Italian accent would sound like), I never thought of Streeps accent being italian!
At the breakfast scene, when Francesca gets angry an Robert, Streep forgets her accent, which makes the whole thing even more artificial. And I think it's quite possible that a person from Italy living in USA for twenty years or so just doesn't have an accent anymore.

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: Audience Reaction: 8. Your Emotions

« on: February 06, 2003, 12:01:27 PM »

Thanks mgk for the description of your feelings, I've lived about the same experience!

 ...I was torn between wanting them to be together and wanting Francesca to make the right decision...

Somehow it is only watching this movie I realized how much we are the choices we make. Because, being a mother with children still living at home, there is just one possible decision. Not only because you don't want to hurt your family, but also because you "cannot just make one life disappear to build a new one" (sorry, I don't think I quoted it quite right). And I think that a lot of the tears I cried, I cried them more for me than for Robert or Francesca.  Just imagine:
   
... that they each had found that perfect person in the world that we all want to find for ourselves...our soul mate...but that they found each other at the wrong time in their lives and could never completely have each other was agonizing for them and for me as an audience member...

I know that love just can't stay passionate for years, which unfortunately doesn't mean that I don't want it to!  I think this is the most important reason for my  tears in this movie.  

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: The Story: 4. Is Robert a Fantasy Figure?

« on: February 06, 2003, 09:35:08 AM »

I don't think Robert is such a fantasy figure. Why? I know a man who resembles him a lot, at least in some ways. He senses what you feel, he says the right thing at the right moment, he listens, he understands, he is just little younger than Robert, and he is single. The major differences are that he is not a loner and he doesn't travel the world. So good luck Lilly, there are not many of them  but they can be real!!

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Previous Film Discussions / Re:BRIDGES: Style and Technique: 7. Symbolism

« on: February 06, 2003, 09:27:09 AM »

I think that the wild flowers Robert offers to Francesca and her reaction to them is very symbolic too. She says that they are poisenous (I'm sorry if my English spelling is not so good, it's not my first language )To me this meant that it is dangerous to offer flowers to a married woman!
Then later, when Robert enters the kitchen for the first time to drink Icetea with Francesca, he asks her: "aren't you afraid of having these in here?". Does that really mean the flowers or rather the man?