There is no meaning of life - and that's ok
I love the message in this film; that we don't need to conform to the norms of society to be happy. We don't need to search for life's purpose because there isn't one, we can just be ourselves.
This is a charming, beautifully made drama about an upper class man who thinks he might be envious of the lifestyle of those whom society hasn't moulded into what's expected. It's about a free-spirited girl who thinks she might be envious of being part of a world she finds stuffy and rather ridiculous. Both Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn are perfect as the aging Lothario from a bygone age and the wild child of the sixties.
The story of mismatched lovers from different sides of the tracks is as old as Shakespeare and was used in what seemed to be about half of all the pre-code pictures of the early thirties. The society of the 1970s, when remnants of 1930s mindsets still ran through what is virtually 'modern times' with modern attitudes created two distinct societies happily existing side by side. Sellers' and Hawn's characters get together and embark as tourists in each other's lives. They're both cynical enough to know that this is just a holiday romance but they want to believe that their relationship can really work. Deep down however they're both too selfish to completely jettison their own ways of living and means of finding personal happiness.
Were this a 1930s film it would have either had a cheesy happy ending or a melodramatic tragic tear-jerking shocking denouement. Without giving anything away, the conclusion of this is much more like real life - it just goes on. That's not unsatisfying in fact it has quite a surprisingly optimistic feel.
Maybe because Peter Sellers is known for comedy this is wrongly assumed to be a comedy. Clearly it's not a comedy but despite its cynicism, it is uplifting. It's an intelligent and thoughtful study of an impossible relationship. Peter Sellers was a surprisingly good actor (with a surprisingly hairy back) but most impressive is Goldie Hawn who seems like she'd been acting for decades (with a reassuringly non-hairy back)
This is a charming, beautifully made drama about an upper class man who thinks he might be envious of the lifestyle of those whom society hasn't moulded into what's expected. It's about a free-spirited girl who thinks she might be envious of being part of a world she finds stuffy and rather ridiculous. Both Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn are perfect as the aging Lothario from a bygone age and the wild child of the sixties.
The story of mismatched lovers from different sides of the tracks is as old as Shakespeare and was used in what seemed to be about half of all the pre-code pictures of the early thirties. The society of the 1970s, when remnants of 1930s mindsets still ran through what is virtually 'modern times' with modern attitudes created two distinct societies happily existing side by side. Sellers' and Hawn's characters get together and embark as tourists in each other's lives. They're both cynical enough to know that this is just a holiday romance but they want to believe that their relationship can really work. Deep down however they're both too selfish to completely jettison their own ways of living and means of finding personal happiness.
Were this a 1930s film it would have either had a cheesy happy ending or a melodramatic tragic tear-jerking shocking denouement. Without giving anything away, the conclusion of this is much more like real life - it just goes on. That's not unsatisfying in fact it has quite a surprisingly optimistic feel.
Maybe because Peter Sellers is known for comedy this is wrongly assumed to be a comedy. Clearly it's not a comedy but despite its cynicism, it is uplifting. It's an intelligent and thoughtful study of an impossible relationship. Peter Sellers was a surprisingly good actor (with a surprisingly hairy back) but most impressive is Goldie Hawn who seems like she'd been acting for decades (with a reassuringly non-hairy back)
- Who_remembers_Dogtanian
- Aug 6, 2024