Basically, it's a romance movie. I say "basically" because it's a little bit different from the romance movies we usually see.
Katie, played by Barbra Streisand, is a smart, serious, principled left-wing activist and a passionate idealist; while Hubbell, played by Robert Redford, is a more intelligent, enthusiastic, optimistic, A slightly cynical conservative, an informal realist. What is different from ordinary romance films is that in this story, the entire process of the two of them from acquaintance, falling in love, to conflict and breaking up is placed under a series of historical backgrounds.
During the Spanish Civil War, Katie supported the Republicans against Franco, and her impassioned speech in the university pulpit was met with ridicule. Hubbell did not care about the disputes on the other side of the world, busy with love, sports, writing and selling. My first novel; at the end of World War II, when I heard the news of Roosevelt's death, Hubbell in military uniform and his friends were still making silly jokes that Katie thought was out of place, so that the two sides had a disagreement and broke up; in the post-war economy In the era of take-off, Hubbell has experienced a change of identity from a writer to a Hollywood screenwriter, but in this process, it is inevitable to make various compromises with the market, but Katie hates Hubbell for squandering his talent and easily practicing his own works. ; Then, the relationship between the two experienced the most severe test in the McCarthy era: many Hollywood screenwriters with a left-wing stance were bugged and suppressed by the government, Katie still insisted on going to DC to attend a congressional hearing, going to Defend the freedom of speech enshrined in the Constitution. Hubbell, on the other hand, believes that such an anachronistic insistence is unwise and has no use other than hurting the family. Because in the end, Hollywood capital, no matter how conservative, will still hire screenwriters, no matter how radical, to work together on a movie. In short, markets and reality, not political principles or any principles, are the iron and immutable laws that keep the world going.
I'm afraid from today's perspective, such a love movie is really old-fashioned and awkward to the point of being funny. We seem to be more accustomed to thinking that whether to take out a loan to buy a big house in the city, what brand of luxury is the proof of success, how many zeros in the bank account is financial freedom, and even how well-done the steak is best Arguing over such things as eating and so on is a delicate and decent middle-class trouble. And all the well-dressed love stories should take place in such a world as a matter of course, so as not to appear childish and abrupt.
By the end of the film, the conflict between Katie and Hubbell eventually proves so irreconcilable that there is no other way but to go their separate ways. Hubbell continued as his TV writer, and Katie continued to stand in the streets distributing leaflets against nuclear weapons. What's interesting is that despite being so different, they always understand each other's position and attitude, and even more or less mixed with a trace of appreciation in this understanding, but no matter how much they love each other, they can't change themselves, they can't change the way we were, and therefore cannot change such an inevitable ending.
The irreconcilable and irreversible conflict has been the core element of all tragedies since ancient Greece. Tragedy always touches our hearts more than comedy, and despite failure, it always gives its protagonists more, not less, courage and dignity. This may be because true choices never kill two birds with one stone, and a truly worthwhile life is never easily achieved by emptying the shopping cart.
So, as we gradually become unable to understand such a love story and the conflict of values that lie behind it, perhaps we should also ask ourselves whether we have strayed further and further from the really important issues in life.
—— First published on WeChat public account: Wenlin FM ——
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