Truly Madly Deeply

If I'm ever forced to compile a list of my all time favourite top five movies, it will vary from week to week – maybe even day to day – and certainly depend upon my current mood and degree of cynicism. But I'm absolutely certain that Truly Madly Deeply will always be in there. I simply love this film. (And hate the version that Hollywood made of it, Ghost.) I watched it again recently, and it was like visiting an old friend. I must have seen this film 10 times yet I seem to be able to glean something extra from it every time. To me, that is the mark of a real work of art, to be able to revisit it and find something new; to still be moved even though the work is familiar.

Truly Madly Deeply stars two of my favourite actors, Juliet Stevenson (Nina) and Alan Rickman (Jamie), and is touching and bittersweet without ever being mawkish. They were a well-matched couple, in love, and he died suddenly, leaving her utterly bereft, almost unable to comprehend what has happened. Overwhelmed by grief, she cannot get a grip, until Jamie comes back from the dead to comfort her. The performances are truly stunning, especially Stevenson. I challenge anyone not to be utterly riveted by her scene in the therapist's office, where we see her anger at Jamie, her dead lover, for dying. She draws the viewer into her misery and desolation in a way that is rarely achieved on screen.

But it's also a funny movie, touching and life affirming. We see the little, silly, personal details and games that make up a love affair; the stupid stuff that makes it real; trying to out-do each other in expression of their affection ("I love you truly", "I love you truly, madly", "I love you truly, madly, deeply", etc as they watch the clouds go by), we see Nina clinging to the remnants of the life she had with Jamie, the appalling rat infested flat, the cello. It takes Jamie's return from the dead for her to start seeing that it wasn't always perfect, and life without Jamie might be possible. Finally she starts to move on, and we know she is going to be OK. In the meantime Jamie is freezing cold (after all, he is a ghost) and turns the flat into a sauna, and his dead friends – who are all movie buffs – are watching videos in the living room in their bathrobes.

Of course the story is a bit hokey, but this is very much a performance driven movie. I watched this film again not long before I went to see Look Both Ways, a much more recent Australian movie about death and dying. Neither has much in the way of plot or action, but both are perfect examples of how even the old clichés and truisms of life can be made fresh and true by intelligent writing and the sheer veracity of the performances. They are both a tour de force in acting. Watch them both.

I had no idea it was going to be as good as it was. The two leads, Stephenson and Rickman, produce such a quality together that it flowed very nicely and I did not want it to end there.

Overall, spirit movies have their own presence and I hate to say this, unbelievability. However, this movie was different in that Rickman's "Jamie" was so believable. It's probably because it was Rickman, who is by far a great spirit, in my opinion. It was very poignant in bring about the message to leave the past as past, and live for the present. Grief brings out a reflection of past and how sometimes we could have made things different. This was more of an embrace on living life to it's fullest, while you still have it. Minghella is an artist!

Truly, the ghosts were fantastic!! It added more to Jamie's plea for Nina to experience life again without him - he had his life, and she needed hers in her world.

Now, I like a weepy, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I actively seek out those films that are most likely to make me cry. However, more often than not, I end up disappointed because usually this type of film is either wildly melodramatic or painfully sentimental.

That's what I was expecting from this, to tell the truth. A woman overcome with grief at the death of her boyfriend? Give me a break!... I was in floods by the end, and promptly watched it again.

This film is testament to how well us Brits can do when we put our minds to it. It's charming, funny, warm and absolutely heart-breaking. All the performances are grouped under an umbrella label 'very good', with one notable exception: that of Juliet Stevenson as Nina. She is magnificent, and is, at times unbearable to watch. I'm still absolutely astonished at her performance. This is a woman who has had her heart and soul ripped out I love this film. I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. It's wonderful! (Blub! *Sniff*)

This one of the most memorable and touching movies about love and loss that I have ever seen. It does fall a little into the trite towards the end with some of the side plots, but the essential message is there from beginning to end. There are people who you love who leave deep and indelible pieces in you, but the essence of living is painful and individual.

The characters are well drawn and the performances by Rickman and Stevenson are nothing short of inspired. Rickman in particular has an ambivalent character- he has the attraction of a unique and fleeting genius, juxtaposed with the temperamental flightiness of a hot house flower. Stevenson's dealings with this paradox of a person and her relationship, forms the driving force behind her quest for meaning.

There are moments of humor and extreme poignancy in this movie. The use of Bach and the poetry of Pablo Neruda is both organic and brilliant.

The trite parts are largely collateral. The movie rather than being "PC" is idiosyncratic with unusual characters.

Having spent some time in the States, I got to watch the brilliant review programme starring Siskel and Ebert (rest in peace, Gene). I've now got a rather dated copy of Ebert's book, and his review of this film matches my opinions perfectly.

Comparisons of this film and Ghost are fatuous, since the similarities are only superficial. Yes, the main protagonists are a couple where the man dies and returns as a ghost, but that's about it. Truly, madly, deeply is wonderfully involving - it has that indefinable something that makes you care about the characters, and pray that the film makers won't cop out and go for a stupid ending.

Fear not, they remain true to the rest of the film. If you only know Alan Rickman from his 'baddie' roles in films like Die Hard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, this will come as a complete surprise. He plays the recently departed Jamie, who must hang around as a ghost until Nina (Juliet Stevenson) finds happiness. The film is slow-paced, but that doesn't matter - it's a wonderful character study.

Of course, it's helped by having Nina played by the utterly wonderful Juliet Stevenson. In the early scenes, when she's grieving for Jamie, her pain is almost palpable. Forget Demi Moore-style teary-eyed, looking ever more beautiful grieving - this is the real thing, floods of tears, almost incoherent, looking like crap, snot-nosed AGONY. The transformation when she realises that Jamie is still around is a joy to watch - as is most of the film, actually.

'Ghost' for adults? In a way, but I think it's comparing apples and oranges. It's a masterful character study, with a great script and a cast on top of their form. Well worth watching.