"Marriage Life" rips apart our unrealistic fantasies about marriage. Although after the film was broadcast in Sweden, many couples decided to end their marriages that were inseparable from each other, which triggered a wave of divorces. But combined with the director's own 5 marriage experiences, it is difficult to say that he is an opponent of the marriage system.
In the film, John and Marianne, a middle-class couple in free love, have similar social status, financial strength, and two daughters. The two will face pressure from the outside world together, support each other, and be honest about various issues. One day, the husband said to his wife, "I'm sorry, I'm in love with someone else. We're going to leave here tomorrow." The wife was caught off guard. In fact, as a psychiatrist, the husband has long been unable to endure the uneasy nagging and suffocating anxiety transmitted by his wife. He is eager to escape from the arranged "should" and "decent", and he is eager to be a scoundrel. The wife later reflected that the emphasis on other people's eyes can be traced back to the "pleasant personality" she developed during her upbringing: doing what others expect will be rewarded.
In the face of the sudden betrayal, the wife tried to calm down with reason: persuaded her husband to "go to sleep, there are still many things to deal with tomorrow"; and worried: "what will happen to me and the children? What do you rely on to pay our child support?". She even helped her husband set an early morning alarm. The next day, no matter how much she pleads, her husband is as determined as he has escaped from a prison. However, six months later, her husband, John, came home with his lover to meet Marianne. Hearing that Marianne had a new relationship, he tried to have a relationship with Marianne again as if to declare sovereignty. Although Marianne was deeply in love with her husband, she defended her dominant position with a decisive refusal and filed for divorce. John delays signing the divorce papers. It turned out that the new intimacy did not bring him more value: he thought it was Marian's restraint that prevented him from becoming a "better self", but he repeatedly witnessed his "devaluation". So he wanted to relive the safety of his family. Marian, sarcastically showing her superiority, is beaten by a shame-ridden John. However, she seemed to understand the incomprehensible anger, the loneliness shrouded in fear, and she just walked out of the room.
Years later, Marianne and John "had an affair" with their families behind their backs. After hurting each other, in addition to their love for each other, they also sympathize with each other after they are hurt. Passion dies in marriage. Love has lost the warmth of passion, and has experienced the calcination and tempering of marriage, and has condensed into forgiveness and compassion. I admit that marriage does not bring stability and beauty; instead, it fosters disappointment and escape. But maybe after disappointment and hurt again and again, people can see themselves, see each other, and know how to understand and respect.
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