Qiu Haizheng's song "The One Who Loves Me and the One I Love" is still in my ears, telling people that "love needs fate". What fate is, no one can say clearly. Leonard, a Jewish young man living in Brooklyn, New York City, failed the premarital examination and was forced to break up his engagement with his fiancee under the pressure of the woman's family, which was an almost fatal blow to him. Leonard has attempted suicide several times. The movie also begins with his most recent suicide. It may be that the icy river water stimulated his survival instinct, and with the help of passers-by, Leonard was dragged back to the shore. At this time, the love "willing to give everything for you" shows its original weakness in the face of death, but the seemingly ordinary beginning implies a kind of realistic powerlessness. The director's intention is obviously not "tear-jerking", but just an objective statement of reality.
The opening of the film sets a tone that is not "higher" than life for the whole film, so the following stories are also expected. Leonard's parents ran a dry cleaners, and life wasn't rich, but it wasn't worry-free either. What makes the old man anxious is the mental state of his son after his lovelorn. At this time, the father was considering a merger with a business partner, and the other's daughter Sandra was also very fond of Leonard, so both of them tried their best to match them. But the contingency of life began to play the trick again. Leonard fell in love with his new neighbor, Michelle, after meeting him in the corridor. Michelle is a beautiful "mistress" in the movie, and her lover is a middle-aged successful man who already has a wife. Michelle is very obsessed with her lover, but she is not sure if he will actually marry her. In ordinary contact, Leonard has become Michelle's "good friend". Even, Michelle will let Leonard test his lover's "sincerity" to her, and Leonard's purpose is to break them up. This kind of thing is often heard and even seen frequently in our life. To his credit, the director has just the right grasp of the details. Leonard, for example, goes to great lengths for his new love, making random encounters, or ignoring a date with Sandra in order to meet Michelle, and spending a fortune on diamond rings. The skill of the actors is also evident. The "moment of tenderness" of Joaquin Phoenix (played by Leonard) in front of Sandra makes the audience feel real and "hateful", which is undoubtedly an affirmation of his performance.
Director James Gray did not impose a preaching on the interpretation of love, and the story proceeded smoothly in the form of original ecology, but the audience would fall into contemplation with the film. Better than any rational rhetoric, I think. Compared with the extreme reasoning of the domestic film "Half Sea and Half Flame", "Two Lovers" shows a state of overcoming rigidity with softness.
Leonard, who successfully achieved his goal at the end, originally planned to run away with Michelle, but unexpectedly his lover returned to the arms of his old lover, which made Leonard unexpected. After grief, he retrieved the A discarded ring put it on Sandra's hand. Leonard's ending is not tragic, and life can go on. But one can't help but doubt his "sincere" feelings for Michelle, and how credible is the so-called love, which seems to be nothing more than lust and love.
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