Feature by Julia Smith
What makes a person truly unlucky in love? Is the fact that fate is closing down on the object of their affection, usually ending in death! Are they unlucky because they have no problem finding a person to love, it’s just that the person doesn’t love them back? Is it that they love the person dearly but putting them on a plane to America seems like such a more fulfilling idea? Is it that there is a person watching them from the bushes, or is that the object of their affection finds violent psychotic outbursts a turn off? Maybe it’s plain stupidity that makes them unlucky? Digging their own grave, so to speak, by allowing their lover to freeze in the cold North Atlantic Ocean? Or is it simply that they are doomed? They will never find love, and if they do, it must always be sacrificed, no Hollywood ending, just terminal unhappiness?
Let’s start with the first and most obvious storyline that befalls the majority of ‘sad’ Hollywood love stories, the death of a loved one. When the protagonist falls in love, only to lose it at the last hurdle.
“People who truly loved once are far more likely to love again” – Sleepless In Seattle
One of the major plot elements of a romantic drama is that of a deceased spouse. It gives something for the film to search into, with emotions that need be to overcome followed up by the flurry of emotions encountered when meeting ‘another’ love of their life. In Sleepless In Seattle poor Sam (Tom Hanks) is left to mull over the death of his wife. Likewise with; Bob (David Duchovny) in Return To Me. Neither are sad for long though, as they soon meet new ‘loves of their lives’. So, unlucky as these people are, their luck soon changes, sometime at the end of Act One. Now, there are those who are not so lucky. A cruel twist of fate has taken their love away from them just when we thought the film could be wrapped up and tucked away forever (this happens around Act Three). In El Mariachi, the Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) loses Domino in the closing minutes. But, really who could forget Sam (Patrick Swayze) in Ghost, taken from Molly (Demi Moore) just when everything was perfect.
“You'll never find anyone as good for you as I am, to believe in you as much as I do or love you as much!” – The Way We Were
What could be terribly unlucky? Perhaps falling in love with someone who doesn’t return your love. That’s bad luck, and never mind how hard you try you just can’t stop yourself. The pinnacle film of unrequited love has to be that of Katie (Barbra Streisand) in The Way We Were. Crushing from the start, The Way We Were tells the story of Katie, who is infatuated with Hubbell (Robert Redford). A man who is good looking, smart, athletic (everything you would expect Robert Redford to be), and most importantly, everything a woman would fall in love with. What is particularly painful about this story is that you are sure that although he marries her, Hubbell never loved Katie in return. There are others who have experienced unrequited love, but not to full extent to which Katie did. Take Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) in Amores Perros, falling in love with his brother’s wife. And proving that unrequited love is truly the domain of world cinema, in both Jules Et Jim and La Regle Du Jeu it is almost all of the characters who lose out on the love they could have had. Those French and their awkwardly positioned love triangles.
“Where I'm going, you can't follow” - Casablanca
Casablanca, the sad Hollywood ending? Although we will never see Casablanca as a sad ending because Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Capt. Renault (Claude Rains) had that ‘friendship’ to look forward to. This being said, it is still sad to see Rick do his duty and put Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) on the plane, giving up any hope of true happiness. But in hindsight it does makes you wonder whether Rick wasn’t just being too male about it all. Did he really love Ilsa? Why didn’t he do what would have made them both happy? Why indeed? The film tries to encourage you to believe it is for the good of winning the war. But frankly, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) made it out of Germany alive, and he did that alone. Either way it was a stupid decision, and one which, in the case of true love, wouldn’t happen (we hope and pray). Ilsa was willing to leave Victor for Rick, others, however, are not so convinced. In, In The Mood For Love; Chow (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Su (Maggie Cheung) sacrifice their relationship for their families. While on the other side of the cultural world Francesca (Meryl Streep) passes on Robert (Clint Eastwood) in The Bridges Of Madison County.
While there are those characters that can love, but can lose it, or be forced to give it up, there are the others who don’t even want it to begin with. People who find themselves the object of someone’s affection, whether they like it or not.
“Bring the dog, I love animals... I'm a great cook” – Fatal Attraction
When it comes to obsessive love, there are two kinds. There is the one where the people are truly in love with each other, however, one cannot control their natural psychotic urges. Take Betty Blue and Sunrise for example. Then there is the other kind, when the love is one sided and when boiled bunny is on the menu and suddenly one night stands seem like a very bad idea. Case in point, Alex (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction. Alex believed that Dan (Michael Douglas) only denied her love because of wife Anne (Beth Archer) and her formidable control over him. Dan, however, believed that Alex was a one night stand that should never have happened. Dan is the cautionary tale of what happens when you cheat on your wife.
Similar stalker stories run through the greatest of Hollywood thrillers. In typical Hitchcockian style Vertigo found John’s (James Stewart) head wasn’t big enough to accommodate the multi-layered narrative of Kim Novak as both Madeleine and Judy. And if Hitchcock doesn’t scare you, think of Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) in Audition or Kichizo in The Realm Of The Senses. All this being said, who exactly is the unlucky one is these possesive relationships? We would imagine that it would be the victim, who made the wrong choice in lovers. But could it possibly be the stalkers themselves. Doomed to spend a life loving someone who can’t possibly love them back?
Of course, there are those people who find it impossible to find love, let alone a stalker.
“It's better to help people than garden gnomes” - Amelie
It’s an old case in point and one that has probably be done to death. This is the Hollywood story that fuels the rom-com, the case of the ‘lonely heart’. From the classic Pygmalion story; My Fair Lady, Pretty Woman, Strictly Ballroom etc. to the sheepish admirer; Cyrano De Bergerac, Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Truth About Cats and Dogs. It is usually beauty that is the problem, superficial as it is, it is low self-esteem that dictates the narrative flow. Likewise with Billy (Vincent Gallo) in Buffalo ’66 and Amelie (Audrey Tautou), in Amelie, it is a poor sense of self that dictates their uncommunicative and distant selves. It is only the object of their affection that can come and save them in the end. Similarly a bad attitude will find characters on their own, or without the lover they really want. You’ve Got Mail and its superior original The Shop Around The Corner sees the characters battling it out, all because a sense of pride prevents them from shutting up and focussing on what’s in front of them. In conclusion, they make their own bad luck.
And while they are stupidly thwarting their own love lives, there are some that do it so well there is no happy ending on the cards.
“And all I had to show for it was some foolish pride which then gave way to regret. She was the girl. I know that now. But, I pushed her away” – Chasing Amy
Whether it be marrying the wrong woman on purpose (Like Water For Chocolate) or falling in love with the woman you were supposed to be duping (Roman Holiday), as far as losing love goes, it’s their own fault. In El Crimen Del Padre Amaro, Padre Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal) finds himself the securer of his own destiny when his determination for a church career proves an untimely end for his lover, and in effect his own lifelong misery. A Bout De Souffle, sees Patricia (Jean Seberg) loosing her precious Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) because she also wants a life devoid of sin. And perhaps in a more contemporary style Chasing Amy sees Holden (Ben Affleck) giving up on Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams) because he cannot deal with his sinful past.
Sometimes it is entirely the fault of the protagonist that they lose their love, yes they did what they thought was right. But was it right for their lover? Probably not, and they have to live with the consequences. Of course there is the more literal stupidity, I’m sure that Rose and Jack both could have gotten on the very large piece of floating wood.
“It's just, on this one it seemed like something was off, you know?” – Before Sunset
So, there is the unfortunate force of fate everywhere. Resulting in the protagonist’s happiness, but what about the real bad luck. The sort that side-swipes and leaves the audience wondering why that happened. These mostly happen to couples and not solitary characters. Harold (Bud Cort) and Maude (Ruth Gordon) in Harold and Maude were meant to be, unfortunately age proved too great a divide. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) in Romeo & Juliet found that duty divided them. The problem with all these people is that they did try for a life together even when everything threatened to break them up. What makes it worse is that had they not been together they may have led long and happy lives. Proving that a good coupling is worth the danger. The true victims of fate have to be Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) in Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, they didn’t want to be apart but consequently had no choice. Maybe they were a little stupid, but it’s hard not to focus on how unlucky they were when you think that they could love and lose twice… maybe.
“The man I loved, the man who vanished, he never came back at all. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere” – Batman Begins
Rick (of Casablanca) has long stood out as the true loser in love. It is hard not to forget the man who stood aside to let the woman he loved have a chance at a better life. But part of me and maybe every other person who watches this film wonders whether there wasn’t a sequel waiting to be made, with Rick in his beloved bar, drinking and smoking, and generally having a good time. Like him it is easy to believe that great cinematic pieces are where we find our tragic lovers; like Rose in Titanic or Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) in Gone With The Wind. But here’s the point, shouldn’t a true loser in love always be a loser, and shouldn’t this be dependent on the fact that they will never ever be happily in love. Here’s where we arrive at the strange but strong contenders for ‘greatest loser in love’. Firstly, there is King Kong. Falling in love with a person outside of his own species was his first obstacle, tracking her down on the streets of New York was another. But to have her return, apparently, his affections, seem almost other worldly. Actually it is other worldly, this is a film after all. But despite overcoming all these obstacles the Gorilla was pretty unlucky, overcoming everything for love it spelled the end of an otherwise immortal life.
But who is the ultimate loser, so to speak, of cinema. Who is the person who despite all their good qualities, all their confidence, all the women who love them and all the women they want to love is the most ‘loser-ish’ of the lot. It can be none other than Batman. A man who has all the intensity and charisma of James Bond, but is unable to use it. A man who has women falling at his feet only to have to imprison them (literally). A man who, when he finally secures a relationship has to run out on it in order to save the world. Bruce Wayne, at the end of the day, has no one to love, and no one to run to. He is orphaned, he has no friends, and cannot keep a lover. He is almost incapable of truly loving someone and despite what the franchises offer us it is more likely that Bruce works alone (no Robin and definitely no BatGirl). All he has is his loyal butler, Alfred (who won’t be around forever) and a large empty house in which he will die alone. Think of it this way, at least Superman had Lois Lane…
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