A middle-class married man with a stable job, a lovely child, and a soon-to-be-born child in his wife's womb, a happy family on the surface, a gentle and considerate wife, and everything in life goes according to the normal order until His ex-girlfriend shows up.
The film begins with the calm exterior of this married man's turbulent heart, and in his own words all women are more attractive than her wife and can make him tempted. He enjoys falling in love with a beautiful woman briefly on the train, flirting with a female secretary in the office, and conquering all the women who pass by in his fantasy, and having a thrilling love with them. Of course, all this is just the spice he uses to fight the boring middle-class life. He maintains a balance between spiritual infidelity and compliance with the moral order of society that is about to be broken.
About the "Afternoon Love" problem solution: Fred has a break every day after work at noon. He will go to the restaurant alone or go shopping for clothes. Therefore, this time in the afternoon does not belong to work, not to family, but to Fred himself. Chloe's first appearance in his office was in the afternoon, and their relationship took a turn for the better over many afternoons. Their relationship is destined to exist only in the "afternoon" period.
When Chloe first appeared, Fred refused and did not show goodwill and enthusiasm. He thought that his indifference would discourage Chloe, but he did not expect Chloe to appear frequently in his office later. Chloe's life is different from Fred's step-by-step, but full of precariousness, precarious job, precarious lover, precarious place... Gradually Fred becomes more and more interested in everything about her. The relationship between the two began to become ambiguous. Chloe suddenly stopped coming to Fred's office, and Fred realized his loss. He was relieved to receive the postcard from Chloe. It turned out that Chloe's trip did not suddenly leave his life as if it suddenly appeared in his life.
This is a dividing line. Before this, it was Chloe who came to find Fred. After that, Fred started to find Chloe and accompany her to find a house and move. The afternoon that belonged to him already belonged to Chloe. In fact, the afternoon has become a gray area between work and family for Fred, a married man.
Fred was conquered step by step and lost his reason. Chloe has always stressed that he doesn't care about his family and can be his underground lover. But the two did not actually have a relationship. Fred restrained himself every time the love got stronger. In his view, having sex with Chloe is the ultimate limit for betrayal of marriage and derailment. Fred's mental derailment is a fact, but he did not take practical action. Chloe's appearance makes him face the temptation of violent reality, who can resist such a charming body? After all, his wife's body couldn't attract him anymore.
In the end, Chloe lay naked on the bed, and Fred thought of his son as he prepared to undress. He quickly dressed, opened the door, and fled. His inner order had collapsed, and he returned to the office in a panic. After finishing his work, he hurried back home. The wife was at home and he sat with his wife and said we never met in the afternoon. The two of them had a relationship naturally. Fred took advantage of his wife's unfinished business with Chloe.
Yes, there is no actual sexual relationship between Fred and Chloe in the entire film, but does that mean Fred didn't cheat?
It's not the wind moving, not the flag moving, but the benevolent heart.
In my opinion, Fred's last act of using his wife to vent his anger has declared his failure. He becomes a moderator who can neither overcome mental restlessness nor actually break his life. It was precisely because he was faced with a choice that Chloe made him reach the point in his fantasy, but he himself could not make the choice in the fantasy. I believe that after this he can no longer imagine falling in love with other women, because his behavior of rejecting Chloe has denied his fantasy from a realistic level. He saw the dull side of life and the failure of fantasy,
He's going to be a more boring middle-class man.
Because, he even lost the space for fantasy.
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