The Bourne Identity
in Movies ·
Gregory Garcia said:Good grief, what kind of twisted luck led me to decide to watch and comment on a film that has been dissected by such celestial bastions of polished technical expertise on one hand, and glossy socio-cultural pedigree on the other—though, all things considered, they will likely remain incomprehensible 🙄
Despite that, the film deserves an honest critique, whereas certain superficialities on this thread deserve nothing more than a hasty wipe with a smelly tissue 👋
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
The film is, essentially, a romance. It isn't a thriller, nor is it a political thriller, an adventurous travelogue, or even remotely an anti-pharmaceutical activist pamphlet. The story focuses on the relationship between two people—the inception, the progression, and the conclusion of that bond, and how the relationship itself becomes inseparable from its protagonists. Perhaps it isn't particularly difficult to shoot a convincing romance when you have actors like Fiennes, whose mere presence guarantees a minimum of dialogue and a maximum of emotion, or Rachel Weisz, whose entire career seems entirely incompatible with any given cliché; she who started out as a (unpleasant!?) starlet in an action flick and who, now in her thirties, effortlessly portrays a twenty-four-year-old idealist. One can say little else there, except perhaps to thank her for the talent 🙏
Maybe, then, it isn't hard to make a good romance when you have a pair you can comfortably leave on screen for thirty seconds at a time without worrying if the audience will start timing those moments with a stopwatch. But if you want to make a great romance, you must timely establish the emotional architecture upon truly secure foundations. And that is precisely what this director achieved; he constructed an exceptional relationship between two somewhat unusual individuals in such a way that the final layer of that structure pierced directly into the heavens 🙏
And it all unfolded slowly, steadily, step by step, only to culminate in the protagonist's frantic final move, where he uses his own death as a final tribute to his late wife 😲 I must admit that, personally, his action strikes me as disturbed and mad, yet I would have to be irredeemably arrogant to dare deny him that right 🙏
From the outset, it is clear that her position is irreparably lonely and abandoned, a state she chose through her unbridled, borderline reckless nature. When she points a finger at her enemy, she suddenly and unexpectedly finds herself alone, deserted by all potential and expected companions, only to discover—in desperation and through her innate femininity—that her enemy, that composed American diplomat, is actually her true companion and her love. He, meanwhile, trained and schooled in a restraint that perfectly aligns with his pedantic and patient gardener's temperament, discovers in her a strong and wild plant that requires a vast amount of tenderness and affection
Of course, they both realize it too late.😢 And if all true loves are tragic, then this is a romance par excellence . 👍 👍👍
thanks!!
I haven't read a better post in quite some time... you really shut them all down with this one. Truly impressive. This thread should probably be closed now; I suppose any further comments would just be redundant.