Christian Bale is solid as Chris the husband. Emily Watson her steady-delivery self as Marion the wife.
Films with stories about the woman/wife straying/taking a diverted course from married life we have: Francis Ford Coppola's 1969 "The Rain People" with Shirley Knight and James Caan; Benoit Jacquot's 1997 "Seventh Heaven" (French: Le Septieme ciel) with casually cool Sandrine Kiberlain as the young married woman, Vincent Lindon as the doctor husband, and Francois Berleand as the mysterious doctor who talked of "Fung Shui" with Mathilde (Kiberlain's central character), performed hypnosis and cured her of her sexual deterrence; Tony Goldwyn's 1999 "A Walk on the Moon" with Diane Lane as the mature-naïve mix of a restrained housewife, Liev Schreiber as the hardworking husband, and Viggo Mortensen as the arousing outsider.
Here's a different angle from the perspective of the man/husband having diverting thoughts from his marriage. A settled family life seemingly perfect and fine, along comes the diversion: his best friend (male) from 10 years ago, bringing back memories of those carefree artist life of the '60's and being in Paris. Story setting began in England's Eastwood 1977, where husbands go to work in the city by train and return home in the evenings to their wife and family in stable quiet suburbia Metroland. Flashbacks of '60's scene in Paris gave us clues to how it was and has been for Chris (Bale's character). We also get to know Marion (Watson's character, Chris' wife) in and out of flashbacks and also in Chris' daydreams.
The film raises questions on marriage. Watson's character Marion pointed out that marriage and relationship are not two separate things. Here, in this movie, the women (both Marion and Annick) do seem to be more mature in their views of relationship while the young men seem to be still in want of learning and growth in that department of life.
As the film's tagline goes: "Metroland is a state of mind" -- it doesn't matter where you go. It's really up to you how you see yourself and adapt yourself to the environment you're in. Occasional dissatisfaction prompts one to do re-thinking and it is a means to improvement and changes in life.
I've noticed Christian Bale's performance in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 "Little Women" with Winona Ryder and co. He did a terrific job in Todd Haynes' 1998 "Velvet Goldmine" -- he's actually the central character of that story even though he's billed after Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys-Myers. Here he is in the leading role and deserves his top billing recognition. Look forward to seeing him in the upcoming "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "American Psycho." Emily Watson delivered an equally matching performance and complemented Christian's character well.
Probably more appreciated by audiences in the Baby Boomer age, who's been through the '60's and '70's and understand what identity crisis and chasing after one's dream could be like. It's a mature topic.
For marriage/sexual problems, a more in depth conscientious treatment of the sexual revelations approach can be found in 1996 "Bliss" with Sheryl Lee and Craig Sheffer, and Terence Stamp in the sexual therapist role (NFE: explicit scenes and story content for mature audiences only; film provides probing questions to one's way of loving and what loving is). A slightly lighter approach is Benoit Jacquot's 1997 "Seventh Heaven" (French), while a tense emotional approach is Christian Vincent's 1994 "La Separation" (French) with Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Auteuil, a wonderful pair to watch in spite of the hard medicine.
Films with stories about the woman/wife straying/taking a diverted course from married life we have: Francis Ford Coppola's 1969 "The Rain People" with Shirley Knight and James Caan; Benoit Jacquot's 1997 "Seventh Heaven" (French: Le Septieme ciel) with casually cool Sandrine Kiberlain as the young married woman, Vincent Lindon as the doctor husband, and Francois Berleand as the mysterious doctor who talked of "Fung Shui" with Mathilde (Kiberlain's central character), performed hypnosis and cured her of her sexual deterrence; Tony Goldwyn's 1999 "A Walk on the Moon" with Diane Lane as the mature-naïve mix of a restrained housewife, Liev Schreiber as the hardworking husband, and Viggo Mortensen as the arousing outsider.
Here's a different angle from the perspective of the man/husband having diverting thoughts from his marriage. A settled family life seemingly perfect and fine, along comes the diversion: his best friend (male) from 10 years ago, bringing back memories of those carefree artist life of the '60's and being in Paris. Story setting began in England's Eastwood 1977, where husbands go to work in the city by train and return home in the evenings to their wife and family in stable quiet suburbia Metroland. Flashbacks of '60's scene in Paris gave us clues to how it was and has been for Chris (Bale's character). We also get to know Marion (Watson's character, Chris' wife) in and out of flashbacks and also in Chris' daydreams.
The film raises questions on marriage. Watson's character Marion pointed out that marriage and relationship are not two separate things. Here, in this movie, the women (both Marion and Annick) do seem to be more mature in their views of relationship while the young men seem to be still in want of learning and growth in that department of life.
As the film's tagline goes: "Metroland is a state of mind" -- it doesn't matter where you go. It's really up to you how you see yourself and adapt yourself to the environment you're in. Occasional dissatisfaction prompts one to do re-thinking and it is a means to improvement and changes in life.
I've noticed Christian Bale's performance in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 "Little Women" with Winona Ryder and co. He did a terrific job in Todd Haynes' 1998 "Velvet Goldmine" -- he's actually the central character of that story even though he's billed after Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys-Myers. Here he is in the leading role and deserves his top billing recognition. Look forward to seeing him in the upcoming "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "American Psycho." Emily Watson delivered an equally matching performance and complemented Christian's character well.
Probably more appreciated by audiences in the Baby Boomer age, who's been through the '60's and '70's and understand what identity crisis and chasing after one's dream could be like. It's a mature topic.
For marriage/sexual problems, a more in depth conscientious treatment of the sexual revelations approach can be found in 1996 "Bliss" with Sheryl Lee and Craig Sheffer, and Terence Stamp in the sexual therapist role (NFE: explicit scenes and story content for mature audiences only; film provides probing questions to one's way of loving and what loving is). A slightly lighter approach is Benoit Jacquot's 1997 "Seventh Heaven" (French), while a tense emotional approach is Christian Vincent's 1994 "La Separation" (French) with Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Auteuil, a wonderful pair to watch in spite of the hard medicine.