Love Through Heartbreak

 

Great love can suffer great sadness when one loses  their loved one. Most of us have lost someone close to our heart but we keep going and, as time moves forward, most of us can view the loss through a softer lens. We can smile at a memory or a photo rather than always cry. I follow John Holton’s blog, The Sound of One Hand Typing, who loves music, writing and life. He talked about one of my favourite films and that got me thinking about the theme of loss but, also, love so here are my 3 picks on this theme…

1. BLUE, THE FIRST COLOUR OF THE TRILOGY-1993

I love this trilogy of films with Blue being the first followed by Red and, lastly, White. Blue represents Liberty and it stars Juliette Binoche, a grieving wife and mother who has decided to close the world out to protect her heart from any further sadness. She was married to a famous composer whom she collaborated with  especially when her husband had writer’s block. They had a beautiful 5 yr old daughter and life was great until she lost them in a car accident. How does one heal from such grief? You see her go within, refusing help, but some friends refuse to give up. It’s a wonderful film that shows tragedy but how love can make us free from the severe pain that we, sometimes, cling to. I have to see this film ( plus Red and White) again.

2. RETURN TO ME-2000

This is the film John spoke about and it is a lovely film full of heart( pardon the pun). It stars David Duchovney as a happily, married man to a vet at a zoo. She is winning an award for the love she has for her animals and her work. You see her with the gorilla who places his hand on the glass and she does the same, making it known how connected she is with him. After the event, she has to drop by the zoo, so her hubby leaves to meet her back home but she never arrives. She gets into a car accident and dies. At that moment, Minnie Driver is in the hospital waiting for a heart and guess which one she receives? A year later, Duchovney and his friend go to a restaurant where Duchovney meets the waitress, Driver. He didn’t expect to meet anyone but, there you go. Driver’s granddad, played by the great Carroll O’Connor, in his last role, owns the restaurant and wants his special girl to be happy, so do her friends, Bonnie Hunt and Jim Belushi, who play a married couple.  When Driver visits the zoo and meets the gorilla, who places his hand on the glass and she, instinctively, places her hand up on his, it made me cry. This film is written by Bonnie Hunt, an actress who is quite intelligent and should be known more for her accomplishments behind the camera, not just in front. It is a sensitive, romance film that is worth seeing. 

3. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE-2011

The 2 leads, played by Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, have, maybe, one scene together which occurs in flashback. The main part of the film involves their son who is acting out at school and gets little attention from his mom. His mom (Bullock) has gone within ever since her husband died in 9/11. She can be quite…bitchy. The son goes through his dad’s drawer and finds a key and becomes obsessed with finding the lock. They was a game he and his dad used to play so his mission is to figure out where the lock could be. Along the way, the boy meets different people from all walks of life and learns more about love, life and death. It is a different film that really spoke about love between a parent and child but also the love between a husband and wife, dad and son and mom and son. It’s a different take on the 9/11 attacks and about love and loss.

What films can you think of that would fit this theme?