I wouldn't say this specific display of "love" has reached the level of cliche, but I have seen it in various productions for at least a couple of decades now. Granted, it's an important right that really ought to be achieved broadly in the modern society, but for some reason various factions are resisting freedom of choice and progress.
Anyway, I did not find the treatment of the eponymous theme compelling here. The two elderly leads don't seem to like each other all that much. The male is affectionate toward his wife and almost unwaveringly polite throughout the film, but it's almost a matter of habit and duty. The wife is quick to criticize him. It would appear this is a functional but long stalemate of a relationship involving two parties that sometimes like each other but very much appreciate having their independence.
And this seeps into their daughter. The interactions she has with the pair are almost businesslike, with the slightly arrogant reports of her life since last meeting similar to information one would give a biographer or a well-funded therapist. The episode of power struggle between the father and the daughter near the end was piercing to watch. The veneer of respect and familial affection collapses rapidly under pressure.
But perhaps that was the intention? Showing how there is no love in the contemporary world. How people just have to or decide to stand each other. It's a meaningful message, but it wasn't really pushed sufficiently.
The performances, especially that of the male lead, are strong, but the movie is slow and rather boring at times. Especially when third parties come in and describe their mundane lives in detail.
Honourable Mentions: Up (2009). In a matter of minutes, we see a real septuagenerian love that has lasted for decades in the form of the short at the beginning of the movie. A serious and inhibited male comes to have his life genuinely enriched by his contact with a warm and idealistic woman and truly comes to appreciate her only to be crushed by her eventual absence.
Anyway, I did not find the treatment of the eponymous theme compelling here. The two elderly leads don't seem to like each other all that much. The male is affectionate toward his wife and almost unwaveringly polite throughout the film, but it's almost a matter of habit and duty. The wife is quick to criticize him. It would appear this is a functional but long stalemate of a relationship involving two parties that sometimes like each other but very much appreciate having their independence.
And this seeps into their daughter. The interactions she has with the pair are almost businesslike, with the slightly arrogant reports of her life since last meeting similar to information one would give a biographer or a well-funded therapist. The episode of power struggle between the father and the daughter near the end was piercing to watch. The veneer of respect and familial affection collapses rapidly under pressure.
But perhaps that was the intention? Showing how there is no love in the contemporary world. How people just have to or decide to stand each other. It's a meaningful message, but it wasn't really pushed sufficiently.
The performances, especially that of the male lead, are strong, but the movie is slow and rather boring at times. Especially when third parties come in and describe their mundane lives in detail.
Honourable Mentions: Up (2009). In a matter of minutes, we see a real septuagenerian love that has lasted for decades in the form of the short at the beginning of the movie. A serious and inhibited male comes to have his life genuinely enriched by his contact with a warm and idealistic woman and truly comes to appreciate her only to be crushed by her eventual absence.