A little late to the club but Marriage story is one of those movies that can haunt you for a long time. It questions your beliefs about love and also reinstates that beyond all adversities, love will always prevail. In real life and in movies, you always want things to work out. You want the couple to get together and live happily together. But love beyond labels, irrespective of whether they stay married or not takes a little getting used to for the Indian palate.
So it was only natural that when you first get introduced to Charlie and Nicole sifting through their separation. You wonder why they just can’t sort through their issues with a grand gesture of love. That is how much movies have gotten us accustomed to these over the top expressions of love. And we try so hard to recreate them in our lives too!
But what Charlie and Nicole have is real. It’s nowhere close to perfect, they are heading towards divorce but it’s real! When you have a child together, even when you drift apart, there is really no hating each other because then you would be hating the mother/father of your child! If you watch this movie, keenly observe whose side you take, throughout the movie. This will really throw light on your prejudices.
For me it was Charlie almost until the end and then suddenly it was both of them. I had a hard time picking a side. The feminist in me was slightly disappointed for not taking Nicole’s side. Even as I knew the end credits were going to start rolling any moment, I wished they could somehow become a “couple”.
But ruminating for a while about the end made me realise, they did get together. They both love each other, they know each other inside out and really care about each other. They may never be a couple in its literal sense. But they are a unit. And it is amazing to find someone who will console you seconds after you yell “I wish you would die”, someone who would be happy for your achievements even when you are not on good terms. That really tells a lot about the person.
The penultimate scene where Charlie reads out a letter Nicole had written for him when they were separated, you almost want this to be an Indian movie where they just kiss and makeup but it is what it is!
Charlie and Nicole are probably now ready for an equal relationship. It may not involve marriage or sex but they are happy where they are! Some can find this happiness in marriage and others can find it elsewhere and there is nothing wrong in that! And you know it’s a good movie when you makes you think and reflect so much!
There is this particular scene in the movie where the divorce lawyer explains why mothers are scrutinised so much more than fathers. The cornerstone scene of this movie. I believe this is the spark from where this story began!
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