OK, so this movie that I'm about to review doesn't take place in Paris, but the protagonist wanted to live there, so it's close enough. If you don't know already (shame on you!) I'm talking about the incredibly moving The Way We Were starring the diva herself, Barbra Strreisand and Robert Redford. I became an instant fan of Barbra's after seeing her nail her role as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. It's been me and Barbra ever since.
The Way We Were has a very simple premise: boy finds the nonconformist girl attractive. Noncomformist girl finds the All American boy super cute. Their attraction is unsettled by the end of their college graduation where they part ways. He joins the navy and she becomes slightly more conventional (at least in terms of her hairdo). Katie and Hubbel are the quintessential opposites attract couple. Technically, they shouldn't be together. And ultimately it's their differences that draw them together and pull them apart.
The movie is a pleasure to watch. You see the relationship unfold between Hubb and Katie. You get the feeling they really love each other, faults and all. They come from different worlds, and the movie emphasizes this. You also see Katie trying to fit in to his world by looking more the part, but she will never fit in--not because she can't, but because she won't. Katie believes that love is enough and as long as they have that, they can get through anything.
Everything changes when they move to Hollywood, which represents temptation, facade, and even danger. It's harder for real love to survive there. The viewer can also see that the marriage is a little off. Katie dreams about moving to Paris or China ("maybe") and plans a life where Hubb will continue to write books and live up to his potential while Katie stays polotically active. We learn towards the end, that he's been humoring her while she plans their future life, never really communicating with her that he has no desire to write or move abroad. That's one of the things that disturbs me about Hubbell. He always seemed so introverted. He never really expressed his love for Katie in so many words. Katie loved him with her whole self and you can definitely tell.
The last 3 or 4 scenes of the movie are where Streisand and Redford really show their acting chops. By the end, you can see just how much Hubb loved Katie. It's in his face, his voice, the way he hugs her, the way he gazes at her before saying the final goodbye. You can see that the man truly loved her. So why wasn't enough? He was weak and she was stubborn. I think Katie wasn't willing to give even an inch and Hubb just wanted a simple life. So of course, without compromise, there can be no relationship. So you have two people who love each other deeply, but just aren't meant to be.
I've watched this move countless times, and complained that the end is so tragic. They never get together. He never calls her to come for a drink. He never connects with his daughter. (In fact, I wonder if his new wife even realized that her man was talking with his ex-wife and the mother of his child!). You just don't get the typical Hollywood ending. But I finally realized after watching the movie for the zillionth time that you get something much better: resolution. How much worse would it be if Katie never saw him again? What if the movie ended right after the hospital scene? Then we really would have had a bad taste in our mouths. At least they get to say goodbye and I think, Hubb finally opens up and lets her know that even though she was the best thing that ever happened to him, he just couldn't deal with it. So now, when I watch the movie, I still get a bit teary at the end, but then I remember that resolution is probably the next best thing that could have happened.
So, anyone been in a real life Katie-Hubbell situation? I have, and it sucks. . .
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