Uncertainty

I remember the first time I saw Splendor in the Grass I cried hysterically. I saw it at a time in my life when the one relationship I thought I would be in forever had ended. I was at a crossroads and didn’t know who I was or what was going to happen. The uncertainty was torture, but that movie gave me hope despite how sad it was to watch.  All because of that one line:

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass,

of glory in the flower;

We shall grieve not,

rather find strength in what remains behind.

We never know what might come our way, we don’t know the impact one moment in time can have on our lives. . . all we know is the uncertainty that will come. Here are few movies in our collection that illustrate just that principle.

Uncertainty begins with the flip of a coin on the Brooklyn Bridge, which in turn takes one couples’ lives in two different possible scenarios. Both Kate (Lynn Collins) and Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) ask themselves what life they want to have. One choice takes us on a fast-paced thriller ride after finding a cell phone in the back of their taxi that everyone seems to want. The other is a family drama surrounding a visit to Kate’s family home on July 4th. The director uses color as a way to differentiate between the two scenarios and makes the transitions between scenes effortless.

What starts out as a game of truth-or-dare as young children leads to heart-breaking truths and life-altering dares as Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard) enter into adulthood. Through the game they push each other’s limits both in life and love to the point where they might lose each other for good. In the beautiful and vibrant French film Love Me If You Dare, the uncertainty in life is our own doing and inevitably we are the ones in control of how far we let it take us before we decide to make a change.

(500) Days of Summer chronicles the relationship between Tom Hansen  (Joseph Gordon-Levitt again) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). Summer doesn’t believe in true love, yet Tom is sure that she is the one for him. Following the ups and downs of their obviously doomed relationship, we find Tom questioning himself in his work as a greeting card writer, his failures as a potential architect, and his failed relationship with the beautifully tragic Summer Finn. The film is told in a nonlinear narrative with stunning cinematography, compassionate characters and enough emotion to make you laugh and cry.

In Conversation(s) with Other Women what appears to be two strangers flirting at a wedding reception slowly reveals a much more complicated affair. As their conversation continues throughout the night, these “strangers” reveal memories they both have shared. Making their way into a hotel room only complicates things as these two come to a breaking point, which asks the question: do second chances really matter? Filmed entirely in split screen, this film portrays a man (Aaron Eckhart) and woman (Helena Bonham Carter) who both wonder: can they find happiness again or does life just continue on?