Wen丨Qingxin Junyue
In the eyes of some people, "The Bridge of Madison County" cannot be called an emotional "positive energy" film, because it is more about the beauty of extramarital affairs, even if this This emotion did not defeat the protagonist Francesca’s sanity, but there was still suspicion of beautifying this special emotion. After all, at the end of the film, Francesca always missed the four days of wandering in marriage, always thinking about bringing her marriage. Robert, who was in love, finally asked his children not to bury her with her husband Richard in his will, but to scatter her ashes on the banks of the Madison Bridge, the place where Robert's ashes remained.
"Covered Bridge Last Dream" stills
But, is this really the main thrust of this film? Not necessarily. It is necessary to know that Francesca’s children fulfilled their mother’s last wish after they remembered the story of their mother and Robert through the days they left behind, but the two who were on the verge of a broken marriage returned to the family. This illustrates the story in the film—— The love between Francesca and Robert is not simply an extramarital affair, but may also have other revelations.
Extramarital affairs is not a manifestation of love, but an unwilling projection. The storyline in the film is not complicated. The protagonist Francesca is an ordinary housewife. The husband inherits the family farm. He has been married for many years and has two children. The children are already ten. At the age of six or seven, the marriage life for many years was unremarkable and unwavering. Francesca repeats daily housework every day-cooking, tidying up the room, and taking care of the family. By chance, her husband wants to take the children to the city. Set to participate in the competition, this time Francesca did not follow, decided to stay at home alone to enjoy the rare four days of free time.
Not long after her husband left with the children, Francesca met Robert, a photographer from National Geographic magazine who came here to shoot the Madison Bridge. Robert asked Francesca for directions in the process, and the two met. And quickly develop feelings.
"Covered Bridge Last Dream" stills
Has anything special happened after Francesca and Robert met?
actually didn’t. Robert asked Francesca about the way to the Madison Bridge. Francesca could not explain clearly, so he decided to go with him personally. There were some conversations along the way. Robert picked a bunch of wildflowers on the Madison Bridge. Give her a thank you, and she made a little joke about it, saying that the wild flowers are poisonous... But it was these plain processes that made Francesca's heart uncontrollable.
Then why did Francesca steal the forbidden fruit in the marriage without a special event?
If it is to enjoy the freedom and excitement that transcend taboos, it may be a slander for Francesca and Robert. After all, the four-day relationship between the two of them lasted for the rest of their lives for the rest of their lives. Together, Robert left everything to Francesca after his death, and Francesca also stated in his will that he insisted on scattering his ashes with Robert. From this point of view, the relationship between the two is real. Sincere and sincere.
So if you have to find out some reasons for the feelings of the two people, it is probably because Robert's understanding of Francesca and Robert's attitude towards life, these are things she has longed for countless times.
In Francesca's marriage with her husband Richard, Richard met Francesca when he was traveling to Italy with the army. The two fell in love in Italy. Francesca left his hometown and came to the United States with her husband for love, and lived in this completely stranger. In the small town of Iowa, she gave up her job and ideals for the sake of her family and became a thorough housewife. Her husband Richard was hardworking, considerate, honest, and gentle, but these were “clean” in Francesca’s view. The advantages seem to make her more and more troubled. She knows that her husband loves her very much and is loyal to her. There is no reason to be faulty, but these still make her feel that she has lost something.
"Covered Bridge Last Dream" stills
On the way she accompanied Robert to search for the Madison Bridge, Robert said that he had chosen to temporarily interrupt the journey because of the scenery outside, and when he got off the train and lived in a strange town (Francisca’s hometown) , Made her feel very unbelievable. In the subsequent interactions, Robert’s various novel experiences satisfied her curiosity. Robert paid attention to her life state and interacted with her.Talking about life, both of them like Yeats's poems. All these are the atmosphere she has never felt in her husband, and the life she has always longed for.
Although she claims to be a person who likes immutability, peace and stability, in fact her heart is just the opposite. She is a person who likes surprise, freedom and romance, just like Robert said:
"comes from Italy Iowa itself is a big change.”
Because of this, Francesca will be uncontrollable when meeting Robert, because what she feels from him is what she desires most.
So, even if Francesca didn’t meet Robert this time, maybe at some time in the future, she would still meet other people who can satisfy her illusions. This is not because of her dissolute nature and impatient loneliness, but because she is in I get the happiness I deserve in my marriage, but I still have another desire in my heart—the desire to be noticed, the desire for novelty, the desire for romance, the desire for passion, the desire for understanding, and these are things that the current marriage cannot give.
"Bridge of Last Dream" stills
Francesca's state is somewhat similar to Emma in "Madame Bovary". Emma has chosen to cheat for many times because of her desire in her heart because her marriage cannot be satisfied. Her needs, but Francesca's state is very different from Emma's. Francesca can feel the beauty of the current marriage, but there are other expectations, or it can be said that she has a certain degree of unwillingness.
The boring marriage highlights the beauty of extramarital affairs.
Because Francesca’s inner desire cannot be satisfied from marriage, once he meets the right person at the right time, a certain "chemical reaction" will inevitably occur and it is difficult to control. The feelings with Robert are the result of this reaction.
both were very rational at first, just chatting happily, but as the contact, the atmosphere gradually changed, and then Francesca began to struggle inside, she felt that her change is likely to be a marriage A kind of injury, and Robert, who guessed her psychological changes, said to this:
"Francisca, we did nothing wrong, these can be said to the children." The words
made Francesca's heart soothed a lot. Because in her heart, marriage and family are still the things she cares about most, and she doesn't want to hurt them because of her selfishness. However, the next development allowed Francesca to end the first night of chat, because Robert unknowingly mentioned his views on family ethics, and he did not want to be bound by it, especially at the end he asked her:
" Do you want to leave your husband?" The words of
angered Francesca, and she firmly said no. However, after Robert left in an awkward atmosphere that night, Francesca wanted to stay, but was called by her husband. Blocked. According to the later plot, Francesca’s anger at that moment did not lie in Robert’s presumption of raising this question, but the question that raised her heart violently, perhaps in her heart like an afterthought, her daughter stuck Lorraine read the same passage when she read her mother Francesca’s diary:
"What disturbs me is that I am over 40 years old, and this boring marriage lasted for more than 20 years, because they taught me, Keep your promises.”
Maybe, this is also one of the problems that some people tend to encounter in marriage, not just Francesca and her children Mike and Caroline in the film. In the minds of many people, life should not be boring, even if not everyone’s life will be colorful, as free and free as Robert in the film, but more or less everyone will have such a Good expectations, especially when the rest of your life will be so boring at a glance, the collision of inner expectations and the status quo will generate great power, prompting the people in it to fight against everything and to get rid of everything. It is only momentary freedom, which causes some people to go to extremes in marriage. This is not necessarily completely irrational, but a subtle interference generated by strong resistance.
Stills of "Bridge Last Dream"
But marriage, especially the marriage of most people, is likely to be plain and boring. It will not be like the wave of fantasy about the future of life and marriage and love when you were youngMarriage is for life, for the family, for the children, for the responsibility, and I have to add countless ties to myself again and again, so that I have to give up what I have been expecting and looking forward to.
Life should not be boring, but marriage is unavoidably boring. How to balance the contradictions between the two and how to comfort the unwillingness of the heart is the key to marriage and a dangerous choice. The different choices of on this issue are likely to make a huge change in the rest of life.
When Francesca’s children looked at the diary left by their mother, both of them encountered similar problems in their marriage. They didn’t know how to choose, and they didn’t know whether they should look for a relationship like their mother to comfort their unwillingness. , They don’t even know why their mother, who was clearly unhappy in life, reluctantly did not leave in the end. This may also be a problem that plagues most people. The four days of
were very short. Robert’s loss on the first day left Francesca regretted and even panicked, because this was the only chance she could get rid of the boring marriage for a short time. Of course, this also included Robert’s Her fatal attraction, driven by both, Francesca left a note to Robert at the Mandison Bridge that night, expecting him to be a guest at home tomorrow for dinner. In this way, after receiving a positive reply from Robert the next day, she dressed herself up as she hadn't had in many years after her marriage. On that night she was drunk and infatuated, and the two could not help taking that step.
Stills of "Covered Bridge Last Dream"
However, after touching the taboo, Francesca's heart is more disturbed, even extremely contradictory, she does not know what to choose next, she looks forward to leaving with Robert, but is not willing to hurt Her family, emotions and marriage, self and responsibility, present and future, known and unknown, have become the source of her pain. In the end, Francesca chose to stay, not because she didn’t want to leave here to live with Robert, but because of her responsibility to the family and her concern for Robert’s emotions. Although choosing to leave with Robert would satisfy all her inner expectations, It seems that more will be lost.
Extramarital love was the first beauty of marriage
The night before Francesca’s husband was about to return, she finally decided to stay. She told Robert that she could not hurt her husband, and her husband was not wrong, right She is also very good, he should not bear this kind of harm, and at the same time her children should not bear the criticism brought about by her departure, and the possible adverse effects on their future lives.
Robert replied that maybe your departure may not be a misfortune for them. They will still live a normal life, and maybe even live better in the future. Perhaps, Robert’s view is the greatest consolation for most people’s inner anxiety when making similar choices, but Francesca did not completely lose her sanity. Of course, it can also be said that she cares more about the beautiful four with Robert. God, Francesca thinks:
"You have to know, this home will be completely changed as soon as I leave. No matter how far away we are from this house, I will still think of it. When we are together, I can also feel it. Existence, I will start to blame myself for loving you because of the pain in my heart, and even those beautiful four days, it seems that it would be a mistake." Francesca wanted this short-lived beauty, so she could only go like this. Afterwards, her husband came back and Robert did not really leave. Soon she went shopping with her husband Richard. Francesca, who returned to the car first, saw Robert in the rain outside the car. She knew he was waiting for her to do it again. The final decision was whether to leave with him, but in the end she chose to give up.
"Land Bridge Last Dream" stills
On that day, she kept crying. That night, she thanked her family for their quiet companionship. She found:
"I know that love is elusive, and its mystery is pure and pure Yes, if Robert and I can stay together, the good feeling will disappear. If I leave my husband Richard, everything that I created will also disappear. Now I just want to be with my family. If I leave home, it will become What kind of, and how can I appreciate the sweetness of family life.”
Because that night, she wanted to understand that a large part of the beauty of her relationship with Robert stems from the boringness of the current marriage.In the current marriage, there is no inner expectation of wanting to get rid of the status quo, and a large part of the beauty in her relationship with Robert will disappear. At the same time, she gave up the marriage, in fact, she gave up the hard work and the passing years. Moreover, in the emotional comparison with Robert, she really felt the warmth and stability of the family, so she chose to stay.
Many people think that this film beautifies the extramarital affairs and highlights the purity and preciousness of this special relationship, but in fact, perhaps this is not the true theme of this film.
Imagine that perhaps Francesca followed her husband Richard to leave Italy and came to this small town in the United States, because she had the same emotion as Robert in her heart, and then she entered marriage, or chose marriage. After experiencing a change from fantasy to reality, from self to maturity, the so-called boring is not necessarily really boring, it is just a comparison with the original fantasy expectations.
"Bridge of Last Dream" stills
Many people said that the reason Francesca stayed to continue the marriage was because of the fond memories with Robert in her heart, but also because of the bondage of certain responsibilities, which may also be because of reluctance to possess Happy family. But perhaps, she can continue the marriage, or return to the marriage in the end, the key is not entirely because of responsibility, or the comfort of four days of beautiful emotions with Robert in her heart, but remembering the beauty of the first love with Richard Over the years, it was not the extramarital feelings that supported her to maintain her marriage, but the initial love. The reason why she did not share the burial with her husband, but scattered her ashes to the Madison Bridge, seemed to be a tribute to the feelings between Robert, but rather I recalled the first love with Richard, because the burial with the husband was a joint burial with marriage, and the ashes were scattered on the Madison Bridge to pay tribute to the original love.
Most extramarital affairs seem to be a struggle against marriage and a pursuit of beauty, but on the contrary, it is a recollection of the first love, because the love that once prompted you to enter the marriage and the extramarital affairs that can later arise To a large extent, the feelings are the same, and all the pursuits seem to be resistance, but they are in vain. The only way for is not to keep changing and resisting, but to accept, because a long life cannot stand countless Repeating it again and again, and repeating it again for countless times, will not let you have the expected and complete love, but will only make everything die with changes.
Because of this, Francesca's children have all returned to their original marriage after listening to their mother's story. Because the beauty of extramarital affairs is just the original beauty of marriage. You have always had it, so why bother to start all over again.
Qingxin Junyue, headline original author, senior mental health instructor, TA storyteller, film critic. Warm you with words, me.
